Walking a New Path Part Four: Flames of Hope
by padawan lynne
Summary: Rebellion vs Empire. Harry and Anakin must deal with raising each other's children as Jedi in a war torn galaxy, while being hunted by the Empire. Life will never be the same again.
1. Chapter 1

**Flames of Hope**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or Harry Potter. They are owned by George Lucas and J K Rowling respectively. I am making no money from this endeavour. **

**Chapter One: Choosing an Apprentice**

Harry rolled over in bed and groaned. Ginny was on duty at the healers today and he would have liked her to be around to help contain the explosion that was sure to come sometime that afternoon. The reason he was expecting an explosion was the fact that today, Luke and Leia Skywalker, and his daughter, Tamsin became eligible to become Padawans. They were all 9 years old and more than ready for the next step, the only problem was who was going to train them. All the other Knights and Masters were letting Harry, Obi-Wan, Damien and Anakin sort out who was training which Padawan, as none of them felt they were powerful enough to be able to contain any Force explosions which occasionally happened when an Initiate that was fairly powerful lost control of their abilities. The only exceptions to that were Mace and Yoda and even they were wary of training them. The fact that Tamsin was magical as well created a different set of problems as she had discovered her animagus form early on, and the Temple had seen the amusing spectacle of a griffin chasing a panther cub down the halls several times over the years. It had got to the point where Harry had threatened to lock away the panther form if Tamsin didn't stop transforming whenever she wanted to get out of something.

Harry got up and dressed himself with his usual efficiency. His uniform hadn't changed over the years; he still kept the original colors he had decided on as a Padawan. Grabbing his lightsaber he attached it to his belt, smoothed out his robe and set off for the room where Damien, Anakin and Obi-Wan were going to be meeting with him.

As he stepped inside the other three looked up and smiled. Harry smiled back before dropping into a chair and saying, "Well, how are we going to divide up our family?"

Damien smirked. "There are only three of them Harry, so I'm going to respectfully bow out and leave them to you. Especially since I've got my eye on another Initiate. I don't feel a Force connection to Tamsin, or Luke or Leia."

Harry nodded before replying, "That's fine Damien. I can understand that."

Nods from Obi-Wan and Anakin said that they understood as well which Damien was relieved about. He hadn't felt like telling them that although he was powerful in his own right, he was with the rest of the Masters and Knights in not being comfortable with containing and directing the very powerful offspring of the two Chosen Ones.

Harry looked round and then sighed. "Well that leaves the three of us. Anakin I'm going to assume you can't train either of your children?" Anakin nodded and Harry continued, "And I can't train Tamsin so we're going to have to work this out somehow. Obi-Wan do you have any objection to training either Luke or Leia?"

"No. In fact, I've felt a connection with Luke developing over the last year. I'd be honored to train him" Obi-Wan replied. Harry nodded, looking at Anakin with a question in his eyes. Anakin nodded in response.

"Yes Harry, I'd be honored to train Tamsin. It is actually rather amusing, you trained me and now I'm going to train your daughter. What a turnaround."

Harry laughed. "Quite so old friend. Oh but be warned, Fred and George have corrupted her, she's quite a prankster."

As Anakin groaned the rest of them laughed. Harry leaned back in his seat and then said, "Well, I guess that leaves me with Leia then. Fortunately all of us have felt connections with our chosen Padawans already so we won't have to force one to develop which would be disastrous. Anakin, you have no objections to me training your daughter?"

Anakin raised both eyebrows and replied, "You trust me with yours Harry, I think I can do the same."

Harry laughed and held out a hand. Anakin and Obi-Wan gripped it and they engaged in a three way handshake before rising to seek out their three Padawans. Damien came with them and while Anakin and Obi-Wan walked ahead of him and Harry, he took the opportunity to quietly discuss his own situation.

"I mean what if he doesn't say yes" Damien said, getting annoyed when Harry chuckled. "What's so funny" the young Knight demanded. Harry shook his head and reined in his amusement. "I'm sorry Damien, but I clearly remember asking Master Ryoth the same thing about you. He told me that I was more in danger of you hugging me to death than saying no and look what happened."

Damien chuckled, remembering his reaction clearly. "Yes, I was a bit overenthusiastic wasn't I. Did you really not know what type of reaction you and Anakin got then, and still get now from the Initiates though?"

Harry snorted. "Yes I'm aware of it, but I don't particularly like it. Labels such as Hero and Sith Killer, which is one that's popped up recently, I have no idea why, stop them from seeing us as teachers and make us into people we're not. Did you not wonder why Anakin and I gave up teaching the Initiates?"

"Because of their reactions?"

"Yes. They were so in awe of us that they forgot to work, and when I tried talking to one of them about one piece of missed homework, they were so ashamed over disappointing me that they burst into tears before I could finish explaining that I wasn't angry with them and I was going to let them have another day to do it. Honestly!"

Damien chuckled, but then sobered up as he said, "If he says yes though, where do I start with teaching him? I mean, there's so much for him to learn and other things I,"

Harry stopped and put both his hands on Damien's shoulders, in a calming gesture. Damien calmed almost instantly, and when he was calm, Harry started talking.

"First, Damien, most of his lessons will still be in taught in class, that hasn't changed. There are only a few things that have to specifically be taught by you, and you'll take him on missions when he's ready to go on them. Just think back to your own training, remember what that was like. If you're stuck, ask for help from me, or Obi-Wan, or Mace or Yoda or another Knight or Master. You will probably do sparring and outdoor stuff with him, and help with his homework and other things like that. Just calm down. Remember, he's not expecting you to be perfect."

Damien breathed out, reasserting control over his emotions. "You're right. It's just that this is such a big step I momentarily panicked." Harry smiled. "You'll do fine. You've got a lot of people around you who would be more than willing to help. Just take it one day at a time for now and get comfortable with the idea of training a Padawan. Remember, it's not just our job to be teachers, most Master/Padawan pairs become like family so you're not only entering just a teaching role here, you're also taking on a semi-parental role too."

Damien nodded and relaxed, before smiling again. "Want to know his name?" he asked. Harry nodded, interested. Damien grinned and said, "His name is Gareth Eeyon, he's a human, and he's 10 years old."

Harry nodded again. "That's good, have you considered what his grades are like, his temperament, things like that?" Damien threw his former master an annoyed look. "Yes I have, he's a quiet kid, not in trouble a lot, his grades are about average, he's sitting around the middle of all his classes which is a good enough starting point. His lightsaber skills are OK, he's better on defense than offence. The only odd thing is that I have wondered sometimes if his quietness is hiding something deeper."

Harry frowned. "What do you mean by that?" he queried. Damien shrugged. "I mean that when he's been in trouble it's always for an outburst of emotion that seemingly came from nowhere. The last two times it occurred the other Initiate that provoked him landed in the infirmary. Fortunately the injuries in both cases weren't serious but it makes me wonder."

Harry nodded, frowning thoughtfully. "You think he's internalizing his emotions and letting them build up until he can't contain them any longer rather than releasing them to the Force?" Damien shrugged again. "Don't know. It could be that I suppose. I don't want to really consider the fact that it might be deliberate."

Harry shook his head. "At 10 years old he's still learning to control his emotions and I do know that for some, releasing emotion to the Force comes easier than it does to others. Maybe he's just having difficulty. Consider it one of the things to work on if he accepts your offer. Just don't question him about it on the first day, wait and see if there's another incident. If there is, then you can talk to him and find out what's going on."

Damien nodded, and then they entered the dining hall, having been headed that way while they were discussing Damien's future apprentice. Harry scanned the hall for Luke, Leia and Tamsin and found them easily. They were surrounded by their friends as per usual but something was wrong. Leia and Tamsin looked shocked and Tamsin looked annoyed as well. Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at him and motioned him over. Saying a quick good bye to Damien, Harry hurried over, the other Initiates making way for him at the table.

"What's wrong Tamsin?" he questioned. Tamsin looked at him and replied, "I'm happy that Master Skywalker will be training me Dad, but I want to know why the two of you decided to swap me and Leia."

"Swap you and Leia?" Harry repeated, confused. He suddenly thought of what the arrangement must seem like to the two young girls and he sighed. "Have you two finished lunch?" he queried. Seeing two nods, he said "Right. Follow us then, we'll sort this out in private."

When the four had gone, Luke turned to Obi-Wan and said, "I'm glad you chose me Master." Obi-Wan laughed and ruffled Luke's hair, reflecting that he really did look a lot like Anakin had done when Harry had first brought him to the Jedi. The two continued eating their lunch, taking the opportunity to get to know each other a little better.

They went into a spare meditation room, and Harry promptly locked it and set the "In Use" sign on so they wouldn't be disturbed. He turned round to find that Tamsin and Leia were on one side of the room, while he and Anakin were on the other. Finally, Anakin sighed and said, "Will the two of you please sit down and stop glaring at us so we can discuss this calmly."

Leia looked hurt. "I wasn't glaring Dad, but I would like to know the answer to Tamsin's question." Tamsin nodded but dropped her glare, after a warning look from Harry. The two Jedi Masters looked at each other and then sat down themselves. It was Anakin that started the explanation.

"You two and Luke have been raised as Jedi from infancy. This was so that you could learn to see the Jedi as your family and not get so attached to us that you couldn't leave us. When you were younger it was fine for you to see us as parents, because we are, and always will be your parents. However, now that you're old enough to be Padawans the situation becomes more complicated."

"How?" Tamsin asked, with Leia nodding alongside her. Harry took up the explanation and said, "Because the nature of a Master/Padawan bond is different to a parent/child bond. There are elements of the latter in the former but overall it is different. You need to be able to see us not only as your fathers but also as Jedi Masters. The reason we're "swapping" you is so that you can form a proper Master/Padawan bond without mixing up the different roles we play in your lives. This way, Tamsin, I will still be your father but Anakin will be your Master, and Leia it's the same for you, only obviously switched round. Can you both understand that?"

Leia nodded and replied, "Yes I can understand that. It was just a bit of a shock, I mean, although we've been raised as Jedi we still see you as our parents. It's going to be funny having to adjust but we will."

Harry nodded and turned to Tamsin. She nodded as well, though more reluctantly. "It will be odd. I suppose we can't complain to our parent if our Master does something we don't like?" she asked.

Anakin chuckled. "I'm going to assume you mean you can't go running to Harry if I have to punish you for something. The answer is no kiddo. You may certainly complain to him by all means but you can't expect him to bail you out of trouble."

"That goes for you too Leia" Harry added. Leia nodded, seemingly having accepted the new situation. Tamsin was having a harder time but she was coming round to the idea. She knew that the reasons for the "swap" were good ones but she didn't like the way it had been done.

"Master Potter" she said. Harry winced at the formal address, but realized that Tamsin was trying to adjust to the new situation as best she could. "Yes Padawan Potter" he responded, thinking that if she could address him by his title, so could he.

Tamsin chuckled briefly. "I'm OK with the situation as it is, but I do have a question." Seeing Harry's encouraging gesture to continue, she said, "Why did you just decide who was going to train whom without asking us first?"

Harry blinked at her before chuckling as well. "Just like me aren't you" he said, before continuing, "We all felt a connection with one of you, Obi-Wan with Luke, me with Leia and Anakin with you. The meeting we had was to check that none of us had any objections to any of our choices. Since none of us had any, we then found you three and asked you. Well we would have if you hadn't jumped to conclusions. As for not asking you beforehand, well, do Masters usually have to ask Initiates' permission before discussing who they're going to train?"

Tamsin blushed as she muttered, "No you don't. Sorry." She looked up when she felt a hand ruffle her hair and Harry grinned at her. "Nothing to be sorry for. I used to react the same way when I suspected that people had been arranging my life without telling me first or asking my opinion. You do understand why we arranged things this way though?"

"Yeah I do. It should be fun. Master Anakin can tell me all sorts of stories" she giggled. Harry raised an eyebrow and said, "Hmm, well, if you want to hear how badly behaved he was then go ahead."

"Oy!" Anakin said with a mock offended look on his face. Harry chuckled, which soon turned to laughter as Anakin threw a pillow at him. Harry levitated it with the Force and threw it back, which Anakin countered. Tamsin and Leia watched, thoroughly entertained as the two Masters seemed to become Padawans for a brief time.

After the pillow fight was over, Harry and Anakin faced Leia and Tamsin, before asking the all important question. Five minutes later, the meditation room door opened, and the two Masters stepped out, followed by their two Padawans. They split up at that point, and the two new Master/Padawan pairs headed back to their respective apartments. The rest of the day was spent settling in and turning Tamsin and Leia from Initiates into Padawans, with the only sticking point being the haircuts. After a bit of argument, their hair was shortened to just below their ears and pulled back into a short ponytail, which left their Padawan braids hanging behind their right ears as they should.

That evening, Harry and Anakin met up with Obi-Wan and Damien for dinner. All of them had brought their Padawans along, and Harry got his first good look at Damien's chosen Padawan. Gareth was nice enough he supposed, but he could sense clearly what Damien had mentioned, the kid's emotions were bottled up tight, and Harry wondered why that was. He inwardly shook his head, and smiled at Gareth, shaking his hand when Damien introduced them, it was up to Damien to sort out whatever was bothering his Padawan, not Harry. After the introductions were over, the group of 8 had a nice quiet dinner, the discussion ranging from Jedi training, with the masters answering questions from the apprentices and then talk turned to the Rebellion. Here, the elder Jedi were careful to keep the talk centered on generalities, not entering specifics. They did not want their apprentices being involved in the war before they were ready to handle it.

The four new Padawans retired to bed fairly early that evening, worn out by the amount of changes the day had brought, which left their Masters free to discuss other things, namely new ways to frustrate and annoy the Emperor. Discussions of their new apprentices would come at a later time when they'd all settled into their new partnerships. For now though, it was time to put into place a plan that the Rebellion had been working on for the past few months, a plan codenamed Operation: Annoyance.

**Author Note**

**Well here it is, the first chapter of Flames of Hope. I hope you all enjoy it, as I have definite plans for this story. If any of you have any ideas for how the Rebellion can annoy the hell out of the Emperor, please tell me. I can't promise that I'll use all of them but I do like getting input from my readers. I have a few ideas myself but I do need more.**

**May the Force be with you**

**Padawan Lynne**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Planning Operation Annoyance and Explorations**

Harry, Anakin, Obi-Wan and Damien had released their apprentices for the day, so they could discuss the latest moves the Rebellion made against the Empire without having four curious Padawans around. The Padawans had taken advantage of this unexpected freedom and had gone exploring in the jungle, after promising not to stray too far and taking locator equipment with them so if they got lost then their masters could find them. Harry smirked as he looked at Anakin; the other Jedi Master had not quite got the purple streaks out of his hair from where Tamsin had pranked him a week ago. Anakin returned the smirk with a glare and leaned back, grumbling about Potters and their ability to find trouble anywhere.

"Now, what are we going to do about the shipyards?" Obi-Wan said, effectively drawing Harry and Anakin out of their musing. Harry shrugged. "I don't know. Send someone to infiltrate the yards and put the ships out of commission?"

His companions looked thoughtful before nodding. When no other ideas came forward, Harry remarked, "We don't necessarily need to go after the shipyards. How effective do you think Palpatine is going to be if he's made a fool of?"

"Not very but what did you have in mind?" Damien asked. Harry smirked, his eyes lighting up in a way that made the other three Jedi groan. That look signaled a crazy Harry Potter plan that would be near impossible to pull off but would work brilliantly nevertheless.

"I was thinking he doesn't spend all day in his office. How about someone sneaks into his office and plants various pranks round the place, designed to go off at the most embarrassing times for him? Such as he's holding a meeting in the Senate and he suddenly turns into a chicken or something."

The serious nature of the meeting was broken as the Jedi collapsed in laughter at the image. Harry grinned and almost broke several ribs from laughing when Damien wiped his eyes and suggested, "Or have a spell set to a specific action, whenever he mentions certain words."

"Which word and which action?" Harry enquired. Damien grinned and replied, "Uncontrollable diarrhea whenever he mentions the words Imperial or Empire."

"He, he'd be on the toilet all day" Anakin choked out. Obi-Wan reappeared from under the table, where he'd fallen in a fit of laughter and put in his opinion. "Or he could sing the praises of the Rebellion and the Jedi as well. Have them be alternating so he doesn't know which one will happen."

"What other pranks should we set up?" Anakin smirked. Harry grinned. "We can use the pranks on the shipyards as well; we could always steal several and use them in our arsenal."

This drew approval from his co-conspirators and the talk turned from pranks to the intelligence net that was being set up by the Intelligence Division. "How are our Imperial spies working out?" Harry asked. He didn't normally get involved with that side of things but since James was one of the coordinators he was interested.

Obi-Wan shrugged. "Slowly but steadily. We're getting information on ship and troop movements, as well as Senate information from Bail Organa and Mon Mothma. We have more allies in the Senate than we thought. Many worlds are not happy with the measures that the Emperor is trying to push through, your idea about getting to the non human worlds before the Empire did was a good one Harry, and we have a lot of allies which include the Wookies, who are most unhappy that their cubs are being taken as slaves."

Harry winced; angering Wookies was never a good thing. "That's good to hear. Getting back to our plan to annoy the hell out of the Empire, what about attacking their funds? Knight Sheija is a genius when it comes to electronics; get her to drain the funds out of the Emperor's accounts into ours. There's no reason that we shouldn't benefit from his money."

Anakin nodded approvingly, but Obi-Wan and Damien frowned. "Won't that be suspicious, I mean the trail can be followed" Damien said. Harry frowned back and replied, "Trust me, it will be very difficult to follow if we deposit a few hundred thousand credits here and there in different dummy accounts that seem to be Imperial related. Knight Sheija is the best I've ever seen at this sort of thing; many in the Intelligence Division aren't as good. She'll be able to hide the money trail successfully, and the Emperor will have other things to occupy his attention, other than following his missing money. By the time he gets round to it, we'll have spent a good deal of it, and it will all go towards ruining his reputation."

His friends all nodded their approval of the ideas and began making plans to implement them soon. The Rebellion had been slowly gathering strength and allies on various worlds, including some Imperial troops that weren't happy about the situation. Harry walked out of the room, needing some fresh air. He'd spent the past week making plans as well as training Leia, and he was desperately in need of some relaxation time for a few hours at least. Transforming into Goldshadow he flew up above the trees and reveled in the feeling of flying by himself once more. Smirking, the Jedi Master decided to follow his bond with Leia, wanting to see what she, Tamsin, Luke and Gareth had got up to. After a bit of circling though, he decided to go back to the Temple, the Padawans could take care of themselves well enough and they had their comlinks if something happened.

The Padawans in question had had a good time exploring the jungle and had come upon an old building which resembled the Temple only it was carved out of obsidian. The two girls shivered, not liking the feeling that the building gave them, while the two boys were looking forward to exploring it. Luke also felt somewhat uneasy but he was keen to explore anyway. Gareth felt no such unease, and as he was the oldest, albeit only by a year, he led them all into the building.

The four immediately drew small glow rods to light their path so they didn't stumble on anything. Carvings on the walls drew their attention, carvings which looked very old and writing that was incomprehensible to the Padawans.

"Let's go Gareth, its cold in here and I don't like what I'm feeling" Tamsin said. She was a highly sensitive empath and she didn't like the feelings that were emanating from the whole building. Gareth snorted. "You're just worried that we'll get in trouble Tamsin. We were allowed to go exploring, we're not doing any harm here, just relax would you." Tamsin looked at Leia who shrugged and followed Luke and Gareth further into the building. They stopped when they reached a vast open room, with an altar at the front of the room. Luke, Leia and Tamsin hung back, choosing to examine the carvings rather than venture near the altar. The feeling of unease, of lingering menace was clearer in this room than any others, and it appeared to be coming from the altar. Gareth however, was intrigued and went closer, looking at the altar from every angle. Finally he noticed where his friends were standing and scowled.

"I suppose you want to go back home" he snapped, his anger rising more easily than it had before. Damien had taught him to control his temper, and as such the incidents that had happened before, with his uncontrolled outbursts, were now almost non existent. Thus the fact that his temper was rising faster, and out of proportion to his true feelings confused him. He shook his head and moved away from the altar, feeling his momentary burst of anger subside. When he reached the other three they all left the strange building, three of them never wanting to return, and one wanting to return to figure out the strange mystery of why the altar affected him in that way.

Behind them, a dark spirit smiled cruelly to itself, Gareth had potential and the spirit wanted to unlock it and bend the Padawan to his will.

When the four Padawans finally entered the Jedi Temple once more, they were met by their worried masters. After a round of "Where in all the nine levels of hell were you?" and "We were about to send out search parties, do you not know how to use comlinks?" they were herded off to dinner, and after that they headed to bed, not because they were in trouble but because they were tired from their explorations. Gareth decided to keep his strange experience in the black Temple-like building to himself for the moment; he would tell his master when he had solved the mystery himself. This was an unwise decision on his part, but as he was only ten years old it was understandable. The results would not be apparent for several years to come.

Author Note

**Thank you to everyone who sent in ideas for how to annoy the Emperor. I will get more in depth with that with the next few chapters; this one was just setting things up. Watch out for Gareth's little mystery to resurface, there was a point to that. Those of you who read the New Jedi Order series will probably know what I'm referring too with that black Temple like building and the dark spirit. **

**May the Force be with you**

**Padawan Lynne**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: Operation Annoyance and Accidents**

Harry glanced over at Anakin and nodded once. Anakin nodded back and the two pranksters silently crept up the stairs to Palpatine's office in the Senate building. They had traveled back to the burnt out Jedi Temple via Portkey, causing a wince from Anakin when he saw his surroundings but they quickly left and used the sewer system to reach the Senate building undetected.

Once inside they took out the guards and cameras easily, a few well placed Stupefies and a few obscuration charms ensured that the two Jedi remained unseen. Palpatine was at a meeting in the Senate chamber for the next three hours so they had plenty of time to place the pranks and get out again. Harry had also developed a spell that replicated the effects of a Dementor which would activate every time Palpatine went to sleep. It would not be nullified by the Force either, so Palpatine would have two choices, either sleep in spite of living his worst memories over and over in his dreams, or try to stay awake as long as possible. Despite his mastery of the Dark Side, Palpatine was still human and as such needed to rest at least once every day.

Gaining access to the office, Harry and Anakin went to work, quickly placing the various pranks around the room. One went on his chair, it was similar to a muggle whoopee cushion; only it was not detectable and could not be removed except by the person who put it there. It ensured that every time Palpatine sat down, or changed position he would give off a farting noise. The best part was that the spell transferred itself to his person the first time he activated it, so that no matter if he changed clothes, or changed his chair, the prank would remain. Another prank was the laxative prank as Anakin called it. A time delayed spell, designed to hit Palpatine when he entered his office, and activated the first time he mentioned the words Empire, or Imperial. The diarrhea would smell awful and the smell would last for days at a time. The other prank, where he praised the Rebellion and the Jedi was held off on; as they decided that the laxative one was more embarrassing and combined with the farting spell would be even funnier.

After giving the room a once over, the two Marauders sneaked into Palpatine's private quarters and placed a few more pranks there, one of which was a spell which turned Palpatine's reflection in any mirror to one of Anakin or Harry, complete with a mocking note that called into question Palpatine's sanity, heritage, or a myriad of other things, the insults would change randomly. All the spells were such that only Harry or Anakin could remove them.

Smirking at each other, Harry and Anakin stood in the alcove just off the Senate chamber where they could hear the Emperor droning on about some boring new law designed to restrict the lives of the citizens even further than they were already. Smirking again, Harry took careful aim and fired his last spell.

There was a brief silence before Palpatine began talking again, but only to himself did he look and sound normal. To everyone else, the Emperor had suddenly changed into a gigantic fluffy yellow chicken and his words sounded like clucking. The media reporters in the room, who were on the Rebellion's side, hurriedly began taking pictures and recording this highly unusual and funny event. Pranks complete, Anakin and Harry left Coruscant, or Imperial Centre as it was now known, but not before one last charm had been set to Palpatine's office and quarters, a video charm complete with audio pickup which was linked to one that was set up in the Intelligence Division in the Jedi Temple on Yavin 4. The Jedi were not about to annoy Palpatine with these pranks and not get some amusement out of the situation.

Once they were on board the Marauder, Harry sent the ship through hyperspace to a small Jedi outpost which had been largely forgotten. There he set the ship down and made a call to the Temple on Yavin.

"Harry, how did things go?" Sheija asked. Harry smirked and replied, "Mission successful Sheija, how did the shipyard mission go?"

"Reconnaissance was done this morning, Operation Mutiny to be carried out tomorrow afternoon; we'll have several ships and plans for the fighters on Yavin tomorrow evening hopefully."

Harry nodded. "Good. We'll come home then, see you in a few hours." He cut the connection and then keyed in hyperspace jumps in a random pattern, designed to throw off any trackers before he keyed in the Yavin coordinates last. Sending the ship into hyperspace once more, he set the ship on autopilot, setting the alarm to wake him when the ship entered the Yavin system and then he followed Anakin's example by closing his eyes and going to sleep.

When they reached Yavin Harry and Anakin were set upon by their respective Padawans who promptly pelted them with questions on how their mission had gone. Amid much laughter, the questions were answered as the four went to the Intelligence Division to see how their charm had worked. To their delight it was working beautifully and it wasn't long before the first prank activated.

Palpatine entered his office, not noticing the almost unnoticeable flash of light as the various prank spells hit him. He sat down in his chair, only to jump up as the prank went off and a very rude noise sounded in his office. Cautiously he sat down again, and the spell went off again. He examined his chair minutely but found nothing. Palpatine then sat down once more, trying to ignore the loud rude sounds that came from that action, and pulled some datapads towards him.

The Jedi in the Intelligence Division were chuckling at this, but more was to come. Several important Senators entered, including Mon Mothma and Bail Organa. Palpatine smiled at them and leaned back in his chair, looking highly embarrassed when the senators raised their eyebrows as the farting noises began again. Shaking their heads, they focused on the meeting. Mon Mothma and Bail Organa were having difficulty controlling their amusement, they had been informed of Harry and Anakin's mission and it looked as though it had been successful.

"Now Senators, I know you've been worried about the recent amendments to the constitution but I assure you the Imperial" – he broke off as once again a loud rude noise sounded in the room, but this time it was accompanied by a wet sounding series of plops, as his bowels loosened thanks to the laxative spell. Palpatine looked up, now certain that someone had played a nasty joke on him but he didn't know how to stop it.

The Senators were wrinkling their noses; the smell was truly awful, while Mon Mothma and Bail were doing their best to keep from laughing. Finally Bail got himself under control and said, "Emperor, maybe you should see a healer that sounds nasty."

Palpatine smiled at him, with great effort and shook his head. "Thank you Senator but that won't be necessary. The Empire" – once again the spell activated and more diarrhea started. Abandoning all pretence at decorum, Palpatine jumped up and ran for the bathroom, where he tried to clean the mess out of his underwear. He wrinkled his own nose as he did so; this was totally embarrassing and not at all appropriate for the leader of an Empire.

With a silent groan Palpatine realized that he didn't need to say the word out loud, just thinking it was enough as his bowels cramped once more. Groaning, he collapsed, vowing to find the person who had embarrassed him so badly and kill them in the slowest manner possible.

Back on Yavin 4 the rest of the Temple were confused at the howls that were coming from the Intelligence Division. Harry and Anakin were at the centre of a group of highly amused Jedi who were busy congratulating them on the success of their mission.

"Just, just wait, there's more" Anakin choked as he watched Palpatine succumb to the effects of the laxative spell once more. As they watched, Palpatine went to the sink and looked in the mirror. His eyes widened and he screamed out "POTTER!!!!!!!" as he saw the reflection staring back at him and read the note that accompanied it.

The Jedi collapsed, almost choking with laughter as their enemy was incapacitated with rage. "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS POTTER" Palpatine snarled. "I'LL SET THE WHOLE POWER OF MY EMPIRE – ARRRRGHHH!" Palpatine gave up on his rant as he lost control of his bowels once more. Giving up on doing any more work that day, Palpatine decided to go to bed.

Harry and Anakin left the Intelligence Division, leaving their colleagues to the now very entertaining task of Palpatine-watching and left to have dinner with their Padawans. They and the rest of the Jedi had a peaceful night's rest preparing for the following day's activities. Palpatine however, was stuck in his own personal hell.

As soon as he went to sleep, the Dementor spell, as Harry called it, started. Palpatine's dreams started off normally but soon changed. From dreams of ruling the Empire to dreams of the Jedi invading every corner of his life and eventually ending it. Palpatine didn't whimper or try to get away, he was still a Sith Lord, but the dreams of facing his two greatest enemies, Anakin Skywalker and Harry Potter together, and losing haunted him. He woke 10 minutes after falling asleep, sweating heavily. Breathing deeply to calm himself, the Sith Lord fell back asleep, only to have his worst memories and fears replay in his mind over and over again. Finally he tried using the Force to release the fears to the Force, only to jerk awake in shock when it didn't work. Looking round the room, he closed his eyes. Nightmares or no nightmares he needed to sleep but he would wake the next morning feeling out of sorts and very grumpy.

The next phase of Operation Annoyance was stealing several ships from the main shipyard that supplied the Empire. The Rebellion had their own small shipyard which supplied them, but it was kept secret. The idea behind the ship theft, which was termed Operation Mutiny in order to distinguish between it and the other two parts of Operation Annoyance was that the Rebellion needed certain command ships, a medical frigate or two, and other transport vehicles for the electronic equipment. Then there were the fighters, the Empire had come up with plans for several classes, the A-wings, B-wings, TIE fighters, and X-wings. It was the X-wing schematics that Syra and Damien were busy stealing today, along with several frigates and destroyers. These would be repainted and remodeled slightly to accommodate their new uses. The medical frigates for example would be outfitted to be a sort of in-space hospital.

Damien smirked as he downloaded the plans for the X-wing class of fighter to his datapad and sent it to the Rebellion headquarters on Yavin. Then he and Syra went about their second task, actually stealing the ships.

Syra hopped aboard the Destroyer that they had picked out. They had actually picked out three, but they would slave the controls of the other two to the one that he was flying. Damien did the same with the three frigates they'd picked. Once they were both ready, Syra opened up a secure comm. channel to Damien.

"You ready to get out of here?" he asked. Damien smiled and replied, "Ready when you are. Got the right coordinates for the jumps? We don't want to lead the Empire right back home."

Syra frowned. "Of course I do. Do you? You always were a bit off with your hyperspace calculations." A snort was his answer and then the two shared a laugh before lifting off.

The guards who had been knocked out before the two Jedi got to work came running into the hangar bay and looked on in horror as their newest ships, the ones that should have been the pride of the Imperial fleet, flew out of the hangar. A tone sounded from their comm. channel and a voice said, "Thanks for the transports, we'll see you later."

The two guards looked at each other and tried not to cry as they imagined their superior's reaction to what had happened.

The last step of the first movements of Operation Annoyance was Knight Sheija's attack on the Emperor's funds a day later. Harry sat behind her, watching with interest. He didn't know how to do what she was doing himself but he was interested in watching. Sheija for her part was fully concentrated on her work and didn't care that he was sitting behind her, his status as one of the most infamous Jedi in the Order, according to the Empire at least, didn't bother her. The two were good friends, despite the rank difference.

Slowly yet steadily Sheija navigated the bank system, finally hacking into the Emperor's personal funds. With a small yet pronounced smirk, she began draining the funds into other; Rebellion oriented accounts, although they didn't appear to be Rebellion accounts. It was painstaking, slow work, and Harry left halfway through, needing to meet Leia for their lightsaber training session.

He found Leia in the clearing outside the main entrance, warming up along with Gareth. Damien was nearby, watching as he'd got back from his own mission the day before. Once the four Jedi were warmed up, they began their exercises. Harry and Damien patiently led their apprentices through the exercises, but Harry was doing more than observing Leia, he was also observing Damien and what he saw pleased him. Despite the younger Jedi's fears that he wouldn't be a good Master, Damien had settled into the role very well and was now comfortable with it. Harry looked over at him and raised his eyebrows, indicating their Padawans with a tilt of his head. Damien nodded and they stepped off to the side, letting Leia and Gareth have room to spar.

The two Padawans eyed each other warily. Gareth was a year older than Leia, but Leia had been taught to use her smaller size to her advantage against opponents that were taller and/or heavier than her, which was exactly what Gareth was. At a signal from Damien the match began.

Leia struck first, her blue blade slicing upwards in an arc, headed for Gareth's right flank. He blocked it with his own green blade, and retaliated with a cut at her head which she also blocked. They disengaged their blades and stepped backwards to give themselves room. Now it was Gareth's turn to attack and he did so with a series of cuts and slashes, driving Leia back. Sensing the tree behind her, Leia leapt upwards and landed briefly on the branch above her head balancing there for a split second before somersaulting over Gareth's head and trying to get him from behind.

Gareth only just managed to block the strike to his back and he was annoyed that he was being beaten. Growling, he upped the ante, his strikes becoming faster, harder, and his use of the Force becoming more aggressive. Leia countered every attack but she was breathing more heavily, and the Force flowed out from her erratically as she became more tired. Over to the side, Harry and Damien frowned; they could feel what was happening and neither of them liked it. Harry leaned over to Damien and murmured, "I thought you'd taught him to control that temper of his?" Damien scowled briefly and muttered back "I thought so too, apparently he's still struggling with it."

"It would appear so; still he's only – hey!" Harry leapt into the fray, lightsaber igniting in a flash as Gareth swung his lightsaber at Leia's throat, scoring a deep wound. The blades of the two apprentices were set on the lowest setting so they shouldn't have been able to wound like that. The only way it could have done so was if the swing was at full strength. The green blade was blocked on it's second strike by Harry's silver one as Harry drove Gareth away from Leia easily, driving the Padawan back until he bumped right into Damien who reached round him and thumbed the power switch on his blade to the off position.

"What were you doing?" Harry demanded, still in protective Master mode. Gareth looked confused. "I was only going to touch her throat with it, you know, standard kill touch. You didn't have to leap in like that" he muttered resentfully. Harry scowled and was about to reply when Damien spoke up.

"Harry let me handle this. You look after Leia." Harry looked at Damien for a minute, noting the steely look in his eyes, and nodded. He dropped to his knees beside Leia, gently pulling her upright. He traced the ugly wound, infusing it with a touch of the Force to numb the worst of the pain while he took her to the infirmary. Leia looked up at him with pain filled eyes but she wasn't crying. She trusted him to look after her, and Harry did just that, walking as fast as possible towards the infirmary while still taking all the care necessary to ensure that his precious cargo wasn't jostled too much. He glared one last time at Gareth, who was looking rather subdued from the lecture he was receiving, which looked to be rather scathing from where Harry was standing.

Healer Re'eya was on duty that afternoon and she took Leia from Harry's arms and put her on one of the beds, soothing her quickly. Harry made to leave but Leia stretched out a hand and grasped one of his.

_Master, please stay_ she sent through the training bond. Harry conjured a chair and sat down, still holding Leia's hand. _I'll stay as long as you want me to_ he sent back, reassuring her as much as possible. He noticed Re'eya standing beside him and looked up.

"Will she be alright?" he asked. Re'eya looked down at the pair and then said, "Can I speak with you in private for a moment Harry?" Leia looked startled and then her grip on Harry's hand tightened. Harry quickly rubbed her hand before saying "Leia, I need to speak with Healer Re'eya for a moment. I'll be just outside, call me through the training bond if you need something. I'll be back as soon as possible. OK?"

Leia looked miserable but nodded slowly, releasing Harry's hand reluctantly. Harry stood and followed Re'eya outside. Once the door was shut he said, "What do you have to say that couldn't be said in front of Leia?"

"The wound will be difficult to heal. The burn was bad, and the skin was actually cut through the first two layers. I'd advise having her communicate with you through your training bond for the next couple of weeks, and I'll advise a diet of very soft foods and liquids until that wound heals; the throat is a very delicate area. I can't put her on a drip to feed her intravenously, not without keeping her in here for the next two weeks. You've trained her too well Harry; she hates the infirmary as much as you and Anakin do."

Harry chuckled briefly before sobering when the healer asked, "How did she come by this injury?" He scowled and replied "She was sparring with Padawan Eeyon, Damien's Padawan, and lost. Their blades were set at normal training levels by the way, level 1. He was trying to do the normal kill touch I suppose but he was angry for some reason and swung really hard at her throat rather than giving the normal brief touch to the side."

Re'eya scowled as well. "Might I suggest that she not spar with Padawan Eeyon again until he learns to control his temper? Blades set at training level are not meant to cause these types of injuries."

"I know. I'll talk to Damien later. For now, is she going to be alright?"

Re'eya nodded. "When the wound heals, yes she'll be fine. There was no trauma to her vocal chords the reason I said no verbal communication was to stop the muscles of her throat, and thus the skin from moving too much while it's healing. Bacta treatment should help as well, I'll give you some to take back home with you. Regular treatments, every few hours. I do want her to stay tonight though, just so we can get the treatment started."

Harry nodded and then shifted slightly. Re'eya smiled and said, "Go on, I've finished what I had to say. Go be with her."

Harry needed no more encouragement, and he stayed with Leia until the nine year old had fallen asleep. When he went home he found Damien sitting on the couch, looking irritated and apologetic.

"I'm so sorry Harry, he won't be doing that again I promise. How is Leia, is she OK?" was the first thing out of the Knight's mouth. Harry sighed and motioned to the couch.

"Sit back down Damien. The wound was nasty but she'll recover." Damien swallowed and then asked, "How nasty?" Harry glanced sideways at him and then said grimly, "The blade sliced through the top two layers of skin and gave her a nasty burn as well. She isn't going to be able to talk for the next two weeks while it heals, or she's not supposed to at any rate. Fortunately there was no damage to her vocal chords." Fixing the suddenly pale Knight with a stern look he added, "I don't suppose I need to state how unhappy I am with your Padawan?"

Damien shook his head emphatically. "No there's not. I've confiscated his lightsaber for the next month and he will be doing lots of emotion control exercises and meditation on the dangers of uncontrolled anger."

Harry nodded. "You don't need to explain stuff to me Damien, but may I say how well you've settled into being a Master? Do you know the reason why he reacted the way he did?"

Damien nodded. "I do. He was annoyed that Leia was winning briefly there and his anger overwhelmed his common sense. He's upset that he injured her like that; he truly didn't mean to, they are friends after all. He wants to see her."

Harry considered the request. "What did you say?" he finally asked. Damien shrugged. "I told him he had to apologise to you before he saw Leia and he also had to apologise to her as well. He was extremely nervous about the thought of apologizing to you by the way."

Harry smirked before chuckling briefly. "I imagine he would be. You did tell him that I wouldn't kill him didn't you?" Damien looked surprised before smirking and replying, "Um, maybe not." At Harry's startled look he grinned and said, "Of course I did. He's just nervous because of your reputation."

Harry groaned and gently punched Damien in the shoulder. Damien retaliated with a shove to Harry's chest, pushing him backwards. They shared a brief laugh before settling into companionable silence, each thinking of their Padawans. An indeterminable period of time passed before there was a tentative knock on the door. Harry looked at Damien who nodded, it was Gareth on the other side. Harry opened the door with a flick of his fingers and sat back in his chair, losing his genial nature in an instant.

Gareth swallowed hard, he appreciated the fact that his master was looking supportive but Harry was looking downright dangerous, what with the annoyed scowl on his face. Damien noticed this and frowned, jabbing Harry in the ribs. This got the scowl turned on him but when Damien used their old bond to tell Harry that Gareth was scared enough without Harry scowling at him, Harry sent a silent agreement and smoothed his expression out.

"Padawan Eeyon, you have something you'd like to say?" he stated neutrally. Gareth nodded, swallowing hard. "Yes Master Potter" he began. He swallowed again and then continued, "I, I was angry at Leia turning the tables on me, well not angry but annoyed, and then it suddenly grew out of proportion, overwhelming me. I was controlling it but suddenly it leapt out of control, I don't know why. I didn't mean to hurt her. She will be alright won't she?"

Harry frowned. "Yes she will. It will take a couple of weeks but she'll be fine. I'm more interested in what you say happened. Do you have any idea why your temper would spiral out of control like that?"

Gareth shook his head, upset. "No Master Potter. If I did I'd tell my master, or you or someone else so it could be fixed. You think I wanted to hurt Leia like that? She's my friend!"

"Whoa, calm down, calm down" Harry said, pitching his voice to be more soothing than accusatory as he saw that the Padawan was approaching a breakdown fast. Damien stepped round Harry and moved over to Gareth, hugging him and talking quietly. Out of respect, Harry deliberately did not try to overhear what Damien was saying, it would have been highly rude. Instead he reached over his training bond with Leia to check on her. Finding her still asleep, and the pain from the injury was slowly fading, he came back to himself to see Gareth looking at him hopefully while Damien was looking at him neutrally.

"So can I see her?" Gareth asked. Harry shook his head. "Not now Gareth, she's asleep at the moment. You can see her tomorrow. For now, you're forgiven, just work on figuring out the reason behind what happened please. We don't need another repeat of this."

Gareth nodded, he too didn't want another repeat of what happened. It had been scary, losing control like that, almost as if something had taken over his body. He thought of the strange black building and the odd altar that he'd explored with Tamsin, Luke and Leia but dismissed it, surely a block of stone couldn't influence him like that. Shaking his head, he followed Damien home, hoping that his friend would be OK.

**Author Note**

**As you can see, I've used quite a few ideas that were sent in. Thank you to everyone, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. More will be coming as soon as I find time to write, this month is fairly busy in RL world for me. **

**May the Force be with you**

**Padawan Lynne**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Dangerous Research**

Gareth woke up early one morning, and lay in bed enjoying the peace and quiet that the very early morning brings. He could sense his master in the room next door, still sound asleep, and he smiled. Rising, he swiftly dressed and grabbed a datapad before heading out the door. He needed to research that odd Temple in the forest a bit more; he'd chosen it for his research project for one of his classes.

The fourteen year old Padawan frowned when he sensed his master wake up and sent a gentle Force compulsion down the bond, hoping that Damien was sleepy enough that he would drop back off to sleep. He was unlucky in that, as Damien felt the compulsion and instantly became curious as to what his Padawan could be up to that he felt the need to keep his master asleep.

Swearing in several languages, Gareth shielded the bond with privacy shields and headed deeper into the jungle, disguising his trail the way they'd been taught a year or so ago. When he finally got to the old building he stopped. No matter how many times he came here it never failed to give him a sense of awe. The slowly rising sun shone off the polished black stone and Gareth shielded his eyes before heading inside.

Inside, the temple was as it had been the last few times he'd come here. Silent, and with an undercurrent of coldness in the Force. Gareth shrugged off as just the atmosphere of the place. He rather liked the cool feeling; it was soothing in a way. He was too young yet to distinguish the cold feeling as the feel of the Dark Side. Making his way to the altar structure he settled down with his datapad and began sketching various items around the room.

From within the altar, the spirit of Sith Lord Exar Kun watched and waited. It was not the right time yet to reveal himself. Gareth might not know why he kept coming back time after time, but the Sith did. Slowly but surely Gareth was becoming addicted to the feel of the Dark Side. Soon, he would be so addicted that the brightness and warmth of the Light would feel oppressive and restrictive. When that happened, he would be ready to become a Sith apprentice, under Exar Kun's tutelage.

Damien was busy following his Padawan's trail. No matter how good Gareth was at concealing his trail and shielding the bond, Damien was better. He found the old temple and stood dead still. Shaking his head he moved towards the front door, he didn't like the feel of the place at all. Although Gareth wasn't old enough to know the feel of the Dark Side, Damien was and the ancient temple reeked of it.

He moved into the temple, his senses on full alert. He didn't know what Gareth was doing here but he wanted to get him away as soon as possible. He automatically moved into the shadows, muting his Force signature to make himself invisible. He settled behind a pillar just off the main hall, watching Gareth work. His Padawan appeared to be sketching things, and Damien realized that this must be the research project that he'd been talking of for the past couple of weeks.

Stepping out of the shadows he said, "Hello Padawan. You didn't need to try and keep me asleep this morning if all you were doing is working on your research project."

Gareth jumped, he hadn't sensed Damien's presence and was startled that he'd been followed. "Um, hello to you too Master. I'm almost finished here, why did you come?"

Damien shrugged and sat down next to the fourteen year old. "I wanted to see what you were up to. When you shield our bond and try to keep me asleep, I get curious as to what you're up to. Did you know that this place is very strong in the Dark Side?"

"No. I felt coolness in the Force when I came here but I thought it was just the atmosphere. Is it really the Dark Side?"

Damien nodded. "Yes. Which is why, when this project of yours is finished, I never want you coming back here again. It could be dangerous." He held up a hand as Gareth started to protest and the Padawan subsided.

"I realize that you were here on a research project, which is why I'm allowing you to finish it. But after it's done I don't want you coming here anymore. The Dark Side is very strong here and I don't want you to be influenced by it. It can be difficult to see, or to know when you're under it's influence and I don't want you finding that out the hard way."

Gareth shrugged and made a small change to one of his sketches before eyeing it critically. Smiling slightly he saved his work and tucked it into a pocket. Standing, he dusted off his pants and held out a hand to his master.

"I'm ready to go Master. All I needed was a few more sketches and I've got that now." He looked Damien and said seriously, "I didn't know about the Dark Side being here Master but I won't come here again. To be honest, I've been getting a bit creeped out, being here on my own. It feels like something is watching me all the time."

Damien laid a hand on his lightsaber and looked round, while putting the other hand on Gareth's shoulder in a reassuring manner. "I don't think anyone's here Padawan but I remember doing a project on this temple myself when I was Harry's Padawan. There was some business about a war between the Jedi and a fallen Jedi-turned-Sith called Exar Kun. I think I've still got my old project back at home. Let's go, I don't want to linger here any longer than necessary."

As Master and Padawan left the temple, the spirit of Exar Kun watched and quietly seethed with anger. He knew that his future apprentice was still very much attached to his master and wouldn't be easy to turn. Especially now since he'd been forbidden to return. Still, maybe he could use the fledgling addiction to call the Padawan back. Children were so easy to influence, they weren't as practiced at controlling their emotions or their curiosity as adults were, and they had a naivety and innocence that landed them in trouble as they were inclined to trust more easily. Not to mention the fact that Exar Kun could wait for as long as it took to gain the boy's trust. Patience was the key here.

Damien and Gareth walked back to the Jedi Temple in silence for the most part until Gareth broke it. Looking uncharacteristically nervous he asked, "Master?"

Damien turned slightly, so he was able to see his apprentice and replied, "Yes Gareth. Is there something you wanted?"

Gareth drew his robe more tightly round himself as he asked, "Are you annoyed at me?"

Damien stopped and drew Gareth into a hug. "Of course not. I was just worried that you might have got into something that you couldn't get out of on your own. I have no problems with you picking that place to research; I just wanted to make sure that you understood the risks. I want you to be safe Gareth, and going to a place that's practically reeking of the Dark Side when you're still only a child isn't particularly safe. I don't want to lose you."

Gareth hugged his master back and said, "You won't. I promise."

Damien looked relieved at that and the subject was dropped. When they got back to the Temple they heard a delighted shriek of "GARETH!" Damien was amused at the fact that Gareth paled and then hid behind him, whispering urgently, "Save me! She's insane!"

Damien chuckled; the young lady running towards them was none other than Erylyn, Ginny's twelve year old Padawan. Ginny had chosen her a couple of months ago and the girl was infatuated with Gareth for some reason. Ginny had teased him about it occasionally but had stopped when she saw that he really didn't like it.

_Be nice to her Padawan_ Damien said through their bond. Gareth grimaced and replied,

_Yes Master. She's so, so giggly though. She never calms down!_

_She's only twelve. Plus she's got something of a crush on you I believe. Just treat her nicely._

_OK._

Gareth stepped out from behind Damien and regarded his fellow Padawan with barely concealed distaste. He preferred Tamsin or Leia's company, the other two girls weren't likely to jump all over him.

"Erylyn" he said. Erylyn stopped short, remembering that he didn't like being jumped all over and restrained herself.

"Gareth. How are you," she replied. Gareth shrugged and walked slowly towards the dining hall with her, sorting out his thoughts.

"OK. I was just finishing up a research project. What about you?"

Erylyn shrugged as well. "Good. Settling into being a Padawan. It's kind of weird, not living in the Initiate's wing anymore. And of course, being part of Master Potter's family. He's cool."

Gareth thought of his master's former master and smiled. "Yeah he is. Always willing to either help out with a prank or at least look the other way. Did I tell you about the time he ran interference for me when I was pranking the Council?"

"No. Do tell." The two Padawans started to laugh as Gareth explained the way that Harry had helped out with a prank that involved fiddling with the air conditioning, and the swamp nearby.

"They seem to be getting on alright" Ginny remarked quietly from behind Damien. He jumped as he turned round, then smirked at the small Healer that was openly grinning at him.

"Yes they do. I take it you talked to her about her bounciness round Gareth?"

Ginny nodded. "Yes. I explained that boys don't tend to like that and she's working on calming down. Most of it I think is still excitement left over from the fact that she was chosen as a Padawan. What about Gareth, is he alright?"

Damien frowned. "Yes he is. Is there some reason I should be worried?"

Ginny smiled. "No, I was just inquiring about his general health. Have you heard anything about how the war's going?"

Damien smirked. "Yes. Harry is very happy; he's made it to the top of Palpatine's hit list. Tamsin can't understand it, neither can Leia. To be honest, neither can I."

Ginny laughed. "Harry and the rest of our family group are at dinner right now, so you can ask him yourself." Damien laughed at that and accompanied Ginny to the dining hall.

Harry looked up as Damien and Ginny sat down and smiled. "Hey you two. How are things going?"

"Fine Harry, how are you" Damien replied. Ginny merely smiled at her husband and kissed him before replying, "Fine. I now however understand exactly why you have a few years in between becoming a Knight and taking a Padawan. Having one is a huge responsibility."

Harry, Damien and Anakin merely smiled at her. "Yeah it is but you wouldn't trade her for anything would you" Anakin said. Ginny shook her head and smiled, no she wouldn't. Erylyn was already proving to be a delight to train, the girl was quick witted and had a way of calming even the most nervous patients quickly.

The meal passed normally, with Harry and Anakin detailing the new ways they'd come up with to make Palpatine's life a living hell. Already the Emperor had had to deal with cash flow problems, labour shortages, equipment malfunctions, and embarrassments in "diplomatic" meetings. He was becoming highly bad tempered and was liable to take it out on anyone in the vicinity which was making him very unpopular.

"That reminds me Harry, why are you so happy to be on the top of Palpatine's hit list?" Damien questioned. Harry laughed, and when he saw the looks of disbelief on his friends' faces he laughed even harder.

"I spent practically my whole life when I was growing up at the top of a Dark Lord's hit list Damien. For the past few years I was growing antsy, not sure what to do with myself when there wasn't any Dark Lord to annoy the hell out of. In a way, I've just come home again; I know how to deal with the present situation."

"You're telling us that you're _happy_ at being number one on Palpatine's hit list" Damien demanded, almost gaping at what he thought of as sheer idiocy on his former master's part. Harry nodded.

"Yes. It tells me that I'm on the right path. I'm not about to run off and challenge him, that's Anakin's job, once we've humiliated him as much as possible and reduced his strength while increasing our own. We have to get the Empire's citizens to see him for what he is – a dictator who's not interested in their welfare, only in his own quest for power. For now though, we don't have enough allies for open war."

"So you're sticking to the guerrilla type of war for now then?" Obi-Wan questioned. Harry nodded again. "Yes. Once we've got a few more allies we should be OK."

"What about Earth?" Ginny queried. Harry turned to her and frowned.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Ginny shrugged. "Just that you have a lot of friends there who would be more than happy to help out. Fred and George in particular were bemoaning the fact that there were no bad guys left to prank anymore and Ron and Hermione are keen to help you if you'd let them."

Harry frowned again. "I'm not sure. I'll ask them for help if Palpatine goes on an offensive against Earth but right now I don't think he will. He's got to solidify his own position here first, a position which we are taking delight in weakening every chance we get. I'm not dismissing the idea Ginny; I just need to work out exactly how they could help us before I ask them to get involved in a war that's not really theirs to fight."

Ginny scowled but realized that Harry had a good point. As Harry stood to leave, Damien stood with him and tapped his arm. As Harry looked at him questioningly, Damien indicated the hallway with a slight movement of his head.

"Can I talk to you in private Harry?" Damien asked as soon as they were out in the corridor. Harry shrugged and replied, "We seem to be in private now Damien or do you want to talk in one of our rooms?"

Damien nodded and said, "My quarters if you don't mind." Harry raised an eyebrow but followed, curious to know what had Damien so agitated. He was even more curious when Damien promptly locked the door and threw up the privacy wards when they got there.

"You know that temple out in the forest, the one that's black and eerie" Damien began abruptly. Harry nodded slowly.

"Yes I know the one. It's an old Sith Temple isn't it?"

Damien nodded. "Yes it is. Gareth was using it as his research project; I followed him there this morning. The place reeks of the Dark Side Harry."

Harry frowned. "What do you want me to do exactly Damien? Gareth seems fine, if he was only researching it then why are you worried."

Damien scowled at his former master and replied heatedly, "Because he said that he felt as though someone or something was watching him. He said that he liked the feel of the place, he liked the coldness of it, even though it was starting to worry him when I found him."

Harry frowned again. "I see. Well, as long as he doesn't go back there I think he's safe. Maybe he was sensing you watching him if you followed him today. The part about his liking the coldness, are you sure he was talking about liking the feel of the Dark or was he simply enjoying the temperature inside the building? I know I prefer to be somewhere cool when it's hot outside and it's been very hot lately. Just keep an eye on him and calm down. I'm sure he's fine."

Damien frowned as he watched Harry walk out the door; he wasn't convinced that Gareth would be fine at all. He sighed, he had done all he could for now though, Gareth had promised that he wouldn't go back there and he knew that his Padawan wouldn't voluntarily break a promise. He looked up as the door opened and grinned as Gareth bounced in the door, apparently he was starting to enjoy Erylyn's company instead of wanting to avoid her at all costs. Smiling he moved over on the couch and allowed Gareth to collapse beside him, listening to the teenager's account of several madcap things that had happened over the past few days. One thing made him sit up straight though.

"Can I start going with you on missions?" Gareth asked.

Damien didn't reply for a few minutes and when he did it was cautious. "Not yet Gareth, but soon. The kind of missions I'm being assigned at present are strictly for Knights or Masters, no Padawans allowed at all. Some of the older Padawans are complaining bitterly about that fact as well. I've asked for some missions where you can come along, I know it's not fair on you that you have to stay behind all the time. If it's any consolation, Tamsin and Leia haven't been on any yet either. Harry, Anakin and I are trying to get the Council to agree to all of us going on one together or at least all of us being on separate ones at the same time."

Gareth scowled but accepted the fact that he would get to go soon. "It's just not fair though. I mean, Master Potter fought a Dark Lord at 14 years old, and after that, so why can't we?"

Damien hid a grin; it wouldn't do to laugh at his apprentice now. "He only did that because he had no choice Gareth. If he was given the choice he would have stayed out of it for as long as possible. We're not treating you like babies; we're simply giving you as much training as possible so when you do accompany us on missions, you can be as helpful as possible."

Gareth sighed but flopped against the back of the couch, accepting defeat on this issue for the time being. "Fine. Can I suggest ideas for what to do to Darth Kinkiness though?"

Damien almost choked. "Darth Kinkiness? Where did you come up with that?"

The Padawan shrugged. "I overheard Master Potter and Knight Skywalker talking about new ways to embarrass the Emperor and they mentioned one of the ones they'd just implemented. Apparently the Emperor keeps certain personal entertainment in his quarters and the press found out about it, completely by accident I'm sure."

"Of course" Damien said with a straight face. Inside he was howling with laughter, however did Harry and Anakin manage to come up with these ideas? Still keeping a straight face he said, "I'll be sure to tell Harry and Anakin that you want to give ideas on how to annoy Darth Kinkiness further. Do you have anything you want to do tonight?"

Gareth shook his head. "No Master, I'm rather tired. I'll just finish getting that assignment in order and save it for turning in tomorrow and then I'll go to bed. Goodnight."

Damien bid his apprentice goodnight as well and then as Gareth's bedroom door shut behind him, he broke out in helpless laughter. No wonder Harry had shot to the top of Palpatine's hit list, the things he kept doing to Palpatine just got worse and worse. If Damien didn't know Harry and Anakin better he'd say that they were trying to drive the Emperor to suicide.

Later, when he retired to bed himself, he checked on Gareth and stopped dead. His Padawan was seemingly caught in a nightmare. Using the bond he could see his Padawan up ahead, with a dark figure in front of him.

Drawing closer he could hear the figure's words.

"..Come to me. Be my apprentice, I won't hold you back from helping with the war. I can help you learn more things to fight it with. Come to me."

Gareth's reply was a lot stronger than either Damien or the figure had been expecting.

"No. I won't join you, you're evil. Leave me alone."

As the figure drew closer to Gareth, hissing in displeasure, Damien stepped in front of him and drew his lightsaber. Being in a dream of course, it was a dream version of the real thing but the figure retreated anyway. Damien shut it off and then gently drew both of them out of the dream and back to reality.

When they opened their eyes, Damien wasn't surprised to find himself with an armful of sobbing teenager. Soothing Gareth he quietly reaffirmed that yes, he still loved him, no he didn't think for one second that Gareth would turn Dark and yes, he'd beat the crap out of anyone that said so, even if it was Harry or Anakin or other members of the Jedi Council. After Gareth had gone back to sleep, Damien spent a long time in his room, watching him to make sure the dream didn't return. When he finally sought his own bed, sleep was a long time coming.

Back in the Sith Temple Exar Kun snarled in rage. The boy's Master was a lot stronger than he'd anticipated, as was the boy's connection to the Light. Apparently, some more work was needed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: Recruitment Missions **

Over the next months Gareth stayed far away from the Sith Temple and learned to shield his mind from all Sith intrusions. He wasn't yet aware of the small piece of Darkness that the Sith had left in his subconscious though, nor was he aware that it grew every time he suppressed negative emotions rather than releasing them.

It wasn't much, but it was enough to allow Exar Kun to sense Gareth wherever he went on Yavin. He didn't try getting into his dreams again, that had been a one time thing, to test what he was up against. Although he'd been driven off he was pleased. Gareth would make a powerful Sith if he could be turned.

Right that moment though, Gareth was in class, struggling to stay awake through a history lecture. Most of the recent history discussed, such as the Clone Wars and birth of the Empire was riveting enough to keep even the most reluctant student awake but not today.

Today's topic was the Great Sith War, the war between the Jedi and the Sith which lead to the Sith almost being wiped from existence. It should have been interesting but it wasn't. Gareth's thoughts were on the upcoming mission that his master had told him about. The two of them were being sent on a scouting mission to the Outer Rim, to see if they could garner support from the smugglers and other outlaws. Damien didn't hold out much hope for a favorable result but he was hoping that the old saying, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" would motivate the smugglers to help them. They didn't like the Empire any more than the Rebellion did and they had a lot of ships and pilots that the Rebellion could do with having on their side.

Finally the class ended and Gareth was so preoccupied that he walked out the door and smack into Damien. He fell to the ground with a startled "Oof." Walking into his master was like walking into a wall. Damien might not be overly tall but he was all muscle and had been standing in a way that made him very hard to move.

"Hello Gareth" Damien said with a spark of amusement in his eyes. "I thought you generally used your eyes to see where you were going" he teased. Gareth accepted the hand up that Damien gave him and grumbled, "I do, I was just thinking about the class I've just had."

Damien nodded and turned slightly, indicating that Gareth should follow him. As soon as they were back at their quarters he sat down. "Padawan, I want to tell you something about this mission that we've been assigned."

Gareth had a momentary flash of fear which he suppressed. "You're not taking me?" he asked. Damien shook his head. "You misunderstand me. You are coming with me Gareth, you're nearly fifteen and you're definitely competent enough to come with me. What I wanted to talk to you about is this: The mission will be dangerous, the people we're going to see don't operate under any laws but their own, and they don't have a whole lot of love for anyone, be it us or the Empire. I want you to stay with me at all times, and stay alert. Don't react to any insults; some of the outlaws are those that have been hunted by various Jedi before so they definitely will not be pleased to see us. We're going to hopefully negotiate an alliance with them; we're not there to create more trouble."

Gareth nodded seriously, he was excited to finally be going on a mission but understood the danger level. He appreciated the fact that his master was trying to keep him safe as well as letting him get a degree of experience out in the real world as it were.

"I understand Master, I'll stay with you" he said.

Damien smiled. "Good. Go put your class stuff away, and then pack, we're leaving this evening. I'm already packed; when you're ready, join me in the dining hall, we'll eat an early dinner then go."

Gareth nodded again and then practically flew to his room. His class materials were thrown on his bed haphazardly, and his travel bag packed with several clean uniforms, the usual travel food rations, spare lightsaber parts, including a charger in case it ran out of power, and other items he would need. When he was ready he found Damien in the dining hall, talking with Harry and Anakin. The other two Jedi were heading out on missions as well, taking Leia and Tamsin with them. Obi-Wan and Luke had left a week earlier.

"So where are you going?" Gareth asked as he sat down after serving himself some food.

Leia grinned and replied, "We're going to Alderaan. The Council wants us to help Senator Organa with covert recruitment efforts."

Harry looked over at the three Padawans and remarked mildly, "The purpose of a covert mission Padawan is secrecy. How long do you think we'd last if you blurted our mission out to everyone on Alderaan? The Rebellion isn't the only side with agents there you know."

Leia looked sheepish. "Sorry Master. It's just our friends here though."

Harry shook his head. "Not even friends are supposed to know everything Leia. It's alright this time but next time, just remember that the answer to the question your friend asked should be "We're going to Alderaan." That's it; no more information needs to be given."

Leia looked crestfallen and Harry leaned over to ruffle her hair. "It's alright Leia, I'm just trying to help you learn the best place and time, as well as who, to reveal information to. Everything's fine."

Leia smiled at him and Harry grinned back. Turning to Tamsin he asked, "So, where are the Council sending you two troublemakers?"

Tamsin and Anakin snorted in unison. "Troublemakers? Us? I think that description better fits you and Master Anakin here rather than him and I" Tamsin replied with a cheeky grin. Seeing Harry's raised eyebrow she smirked and continued, "We're being sent to Earth. Apparently the Council wants some magical help with a certain megalomaniac dictator. Any chance you could bring back what's-his-name? Moldywart?"

Harry choked. "Bring back Voldemort? What for?"

Tamsin shrugged. "Set Voldemort on the Emperor, then sit back and watch as they destroy each other for us."

Harry shook his head. "That won't work. I won't be a party to bringing back my worst enemy from the dead a second time. I spent my entire childhood fighting him and I don't want to do it again if he should turn on us after destroying Palpatine."

Anakin looked at Harry and then said slowly, "The Council was joking when they suggested bringing back Voldemort. They actually want Ginny's twin brothers as the magical help, and possibly Severus as well. All the magical mayhem as well as an insiders view on the Dark Side."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "That might work. Good luck anyway."

Anakin nodded and then the three Master/Padawan pairs rose and headed for their respective departure points. Anakin and Tamsin headed for Earth, Damien and Gareth headed for the Outer Rim while Harry and Leia headed for Alderaan.

While the other two pairs were off on semi-public recruitment missions, Harry and Leia's was a bit more secretive. As a neutral member of the new Imperial Senate, Bail Organa had at least two Imperial spies assigned to watch his every move. Palpatine didn't trust him fully, actually, the Emperor hardly trusted anyone fully but Bail was known to be sympathetic to the Rebellion's cause.

Harry and Leia were supposed to help recruit people for the Rebellion, while staying one step ahead of the Imperials. If caught they would be publicly executed via hanging, and Harry didn't want that. As the top most wanted person on the Emperor's hit list he would be wearing a long term glamour charm to cover his distinctive features. Leia would be alright as Palpatine didn't know what she or Luke looked like.

Finally the three Master/Padawan pairs were off on their missions, the Masters cautious but also somewhat happy, and the Padawans nervous but elated to be going on their first serious missions.

Anakin and Tamsin landed on Earth a few weeks after they'd set out from Yavin. They made their way to Diagon Alley, keeping the hoods of their cloaks up and their lightsabers covered to prevent detection. The wizards and witches didn't give them a second glance, especially when they headed for Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. They stepped into the shop and gave the code word previously agreed upon by Harry, Fred and George.

"Marauders forever" Anakin said softly.

George, who was manning the till that day looked at him, and then replied, "Mischief managed" before immediately closing the shop. They had been having a quiet lunch period anyway so it wasn't hard to close up.

"Oy Fred we have visitors" he called. There was a loud BANG from out the back and then Fred's head, complete with singed eyebrows and slightly smoking hair popped out from the door behind the counter.

"Ah right. Hang on a mo, we'll be right with you" he said and disappeared again. Anakin and Tamsin exchanged a bemused look before the two twins pulled them into the office and sat down.

"Right so what's the news from our partner in crime" Fred said. Anakin lowered his hood, along with Tamsin and replied, "The war is progressing. We've made progress on stifling the Emperor's takeover of the galaxy however we need help. The Jedi Council thought that you two and Severus Snape might be willing to help."

Fred and George seemed to have a silent conversation before George answered for the two of them. "I'm sure that Severus would be willing to help, as are we, but might you accept a bit more help than just the three of us? The Aurors have been getting a bit bored and restless, and one was heard to bemoan the lack of any good Death Eaters to fight the other day. His colleagues shut him up fast but still, they might be good."

"Are they any good in a guerrilla type of war though?" Tamsin asked. Anakin looked at her approvingly, technically he was supposed to be asking the questions but he wanted Tamsin to learn as much as possible and how else was she supposed to learn if not by asking questions.

Fred and George again had a silent conversation before Fred answered, "We're not sure. The Order of the Phoenix might be willing to be recalled into service."

Anakin and Tamsin exchanged another look before Anakin shrugged. "Let us talk to them then and we'll determine whether we can use them on our side."

Fred and George looked at each other and shrugged before getting up and pulling the two Jedi with them. They led them up a staircase and into a flat above the shop where Fred took a pinch of Floo powder and threw it in the fire.

"The Burrow" he called. Once the connection was established Fred waved at Anakin.

"You two go first, and then we'll follow. We need to close the connection from this end, and we can talk more freely at home. Go."

Anakin gave him a dubious look but stepped into the fire. He felt a sickening lurching sensation and then he was standing in the living room of the Burrow. A second later there was a WHOOSH as Tamsin came skidding out behind him. Several seconds after that, George emerged, followed by Fred. Once Fred was out of the fireplace the fire died out.

"I think I see why Harry hates that form of travel" Anakin said, swallowing a few times to calm his stomach. Tamsin looked a bit green as well, and Fred hurriedly offered both of them a stomach settling potion. After drinking it, the two Jedi looked better and the group of four sat in the living room of the Burrow to discuss plans.

"So why would the Aurors help us? Won't they be needed here?" Anakin asked, after Fred elaborated more on his and George's idea. The twins looked at each other and shrugged.

"The Auror force has been enlarged, and most of them get quite a few days off you know. The older ones are more experienced, and as for guerrilla fighting, they love covert operations and stuff like that. Plus they'd be helping Harry, most of them are old enough to remember Voldemort, or they've heard of him and how Harry killed him. They'd be delighted to help" Fred explained.

Anakin tilted his head to one side, considering this information while Tamsin sat patiently beside him, also running over the information. Finally Anakin broke the silence by asking, "What about Severus? Will he be willing to leave his teaching position to fight in a war which might get him killed?"

This time it was George who answered. "He doesn't really like teaching and there are other good Potions Masters out there who could take his position. Most of our society still thinks of him as a Death Eater, even though it was conclusively proven that he was a spy for us during the war. He doesn't like that and he does like Harry, at least we think he does. He'd also love the chance to test his experimental potions on Imperial forces."

Anakin and Tamsin looked at each other and chuckled, it did sound exactly like Severus Snape. Finally, Anakin looked at the twins and said, "Set up a meeting with the Aurors and Severus. We'll explain our situation and see if any are willing to help. It will be made clear that this is an entirely voluntary thing; no one will be vilified or thought less of if they don't wish to help. We do not wish to have any unwilling fighters on our side. That only creates resentment and a possible chance of betrayal. Right now though, can we find somewhere to sleep?"

Fred nodded and led the two Jedi up the stairs, giving Tamsin Ginny's old room and giving Anakin Ron's old room. The two Jedi gratefully crashed into bed and slept, refreshing themselves before the meeting that would take place a couple of days later.

Damien and Gareth had decided to meet with the smugglers on Corellia, which had a thriving smuggler population alongside the normal civilian population. Gareth had stuck close to his master as they walked through the back alleys to where the smugglers liked to gather. As they walked through the door of the bar, all talk ceased. Then one smuggler noticed Gareth's lightsaber and a murmer of "Jedi" ran round the room, the mood abruptly changing to wary civility, underlined with hostility.

Gareth looked at Damien, worried. His master seemed calm and not the least bit worried at the hostility that both of them could sense. He moved further into the room and stood there, looking round at the assembled smugglers. Finally he smiled and said, "Yes we're Jedi. We're not here to arrest any of you. We're actually here to ask for your help."

There was no movement for a moment, and then another murmur ran round the room, the hostility receding slightly and being replaced with interest. A young man that Damien judged to be in his early to mid twenties approached them, followed by a tall Wookie. Damien changed position so that Gareth would be protected if the stranger opened fire with his blaster.

Instead of hostility though, the young man was eyeing Damien with a look of confusion, as though he'd seen him before and was struggling to remember where. Turning to the Wookie he asked a question at a volume too low for Damien to hear. The Wookie shrugged and the stranger turned back to the pair of Jedi.

"I'm sure I've seen you somewhere before but I can't remember where" the stranger said in a semi-friendly tone. Damien shrugged and replied, "Maybe you have. Can you give me your name; I might remember where we've met."

The stranger shrugged and held out his hand. "Han Solo at your service Jedi…?"

Damien took the hand and shook it. "Damien Kyral. Han Solo, now where have I,"

He broke off, searching his memory before the right one popped up. Grinning at Han he said, "I think I know where we've met before. On Ord Mantell, several years ago. I and my master helped you and your friend here out of a rather nasty situation with the local law enforcement."

Han and the Wookie exchanged a glance before Han turned back to them. "Yeah that's right. So you're all grown up now huh. With your own apprentice too. Come over here with me, we can discuss what kind of help the Jedi would need from smugglers and outlaws. By the way, this is Chewbacca, but call him Chewie."

Damien and Gareth shook hands with Chewbacca and followed Han over to his seat. They were conscious of the gazes of the other smugglers following them but they sensed no immediate danger from their hosts. Once they had sat down, Han leaned back in his seat and said, "Right. So, how can a bunch of smugglers help the Jedi?"

Damien and Gareth exchanged a glance before Damien began to explain their plan.

On Alderaan, Harry and Leia had been met by Bail Organa who had taken them back to his home, where they met his wife and their adopted daughter. The plans for recruitment on Alderaan were shrouded in secrecy; potential allies would only be told which organization they were joining after they'd sworn an oath of secrecy. Anyone with any prejudices against the non human members of the former Republic would be rejected; the Rebellion didn't need the sort of infighting that prejudices would cause. Harry and Leia would be using their Force abilities to detect any lies that potential Rebellion allies might try and tell, while Bail and his recruitment staff would do the actual interviewing.

The cover for the whole operation was that of a new adventure park, with the various "attractions" mimicking the actual areas that people could work in with the Rebellion. Pilots were always needed, as were tacticians, food suppliers, electronics specialists, the list went on. Every applicant was screened first for personality and whether they supported the Empire or not. Second were their specialties, where they worked best. Most ended up as pilots but a good few were healers, technicians, strategists, and others. At the end of two weeks, Bail felt they had established their "company" enough that he didn't need to be there anymore. Separate buildings were put up, with trusted people in charge of them to direct new "employees" as they came.

It was on the last day that Harry and Leia were there that disaster struck. One of the Imperial watchers that had been hanging around recognized Harry as he came out of the bathroom. Harry's glamour had slipped for just a second but it was enough.

"You! Stop right there!" the guard shouted, bringing his weapon up to point straight at Harry. Leia, alerted by the shout, came running and crashed right into the guard, causing him to fall over, taking her with him. More guards came at them and Harry and Leia soon found themselves in the middle of a ring of Imperial security guards. They exchanged a glance, both recognizing the seriousness of the situation. They were trapped.

**Author Note**

**Right I'm back and writing again. Stupid computers and their habits of dying at random and unpredictable moments. Anyway, now you have me back again. Thank you for all your patience while this little hiccup was sorted.**

**May the Force be with you**

**Padawan Lynne**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: Cheating Death**

Leia looked at Harry as they sat in a little cell in the Imperial detention centre on Alderaan, awaiting the arrival of the Emperor. They had been summarily sentenced to death by hanging, but because Harry was such a thorn in the Emperor's side, the galactic dictator wanted to personally see Harry die rather than hear about it second hand.

"Um, Master, do you have a plan for getting us out of here?" Leia asked. She trusted her master but she was still only 14 and needed some reassurance that she wasn't about to die. Harry, who had been meditating lightly and finalizing his plans for escape, looked at her and smiled briefly.

"Yes Leia I do. I have to ask though, do you trust me?"

Leia glared at him and replied heatedly, "What kind of question is that, of course I trust you!" She was startled when Harry merely smiled again and said, "Good. No matter what happens then, trust me when I say that I will not allow any harm to come to you, no matter how hopeless our situation may seem to be."

With that he closed his eyes again and slid back into meditation, reaching along the bond he shared with Leia and encouraging her to do the same. The Imperial guard who looked in on them a few minutes later rolled his eyes and left them alone.

A couple of days later the Emperor arrived, having taken a top speed shuttle to Alderaan. Harry and Leia were led out to the main square where a wooden construction had been put up that Harry recognized as a gallows immediately. With a small flare of anger he also noticed the two nooses waiting for them. Pushing aside the anger, he smiled slightly at Leia and whispered, "Trust me."

Leia nodded, before walking calmly beside Harry up the steps and stood facing the crowd, quietly defiant as the charges of conspiracy to topple the government and the punishment, execution by hanging, was read out. She had to stifle a giggle as Harry was mimicking the officious Imperial through their bond and being very irreverent in the process.

"Do you have any last words before you die Potter?" Palpatine asked, clearly pleased to be attending the execution of his greatest annoyance. Harry looked very bored for a second before his eyes sharpened as he scanned the crowd.

"As a matter of fact I do" he replied in a clear voice, loud enough to be heard by everyone. "I would like to ask the crowd down there whether they are comfortable being ruled by a power hungry, insecure dictator who has to kill children in order to justify his rule to himself."

The crowd muttered in unease and Harry continued, his tone becoming accusatory. "For all you parents out there, how would you feel if it was your child standing up here? My apprentice is only 14, still a child by galactic standards. She did nothing but what I told her to do. She had no choice in what she did, yet does our _illustrious and great _leader take that into account? No he does not; he still orders her death, along with mine. How comfortable are you with that?"

Looking straight at Palpatine Harry said venomously, "Know this Palpatine, if you succeed in killing us here today, you will bring the wrath of the entire Potter and Skywalker families down on your head, not to mention the wrath of the rest of the Jedi Order and our allies. You won't succeed though."

Palpatine looked amused. "You were a worthy opponent Potter, it's a pity you have to die today but I do salute you. You and Skywalker were really the only ones that stood in my way and today I will rid myself of one of you. Killing Anakin's daughter is just collateral damage, but it will damage his morale. Hopefully it might even drive him to me again."

Leia began to laugh. "If you really think that my father would join the wrinkled, dried up old scumbag that you are if you killed me then you're gravely mistaken. He'd just as soon run a lightsaber through you, you old fossil!"

As Palpatine spluttered with rage, Harry chuckled, and sent a wave of pride and affection down the Master/Padawan bond. Leia grinned up at him and then turned to face the crowd, suppressing a rush of fear as she felt the noose drop down round her neck. Turning to Harry she saw that small smile of reassurance once more as the noose dropped round his own neck and tightened.

As the executioner walked over to the lever that would drop the floor down from under their feet, the crowd went silent in anticipation. Those in the crowd that were loyal to the Rebellion felt sick with fear. There was a few seconds wait and then Palpatine held up a hand.

"Wait. Hang the Padawan first; I want Potter to see his precious apprentice die, so that he dies knowing that he failed in his duty to keep her safe."

As Harry snarled at him the executioner smirked and made an adjustment to the lever. At a nod from Palpatine, he pulled the lever back. He blinked in shock as the floor didn't move. Leia stood there smirking, knowing that this must be part of Harry's plan.

It was. Harry had quietly used wandless magic to jam the lever and stick the trapdoor to the rest of the floor, ensuring that Leia would not die. He smirked as the executioner tried again and again until finally Palpatine growled and called out, "Hang Potter and then try the girl again."

As Leia and the rest of the crowd watched, the executioner made another adjustment and pulled the lever. Harry dropped out of sight to the roar of the crowd and the scream of denial from Leia. The rope snapped taut and there was the sound of breaking bone as the rope swayed slightly. Leia almost collapsed with grief until she realized something. If Harry had died, the bond would have broken, and it hadn't. Just as she came to this realization, Harry shot back through the trapdoor like a human rocket.

Pulling both his lightsaber and Leia's to him with a wandless summoning charm; he kicked the executioner in the face, and pulled the noose off Leia's neck. Handing her lightsaber to her, he clipped his to his belt and drew his wand, which he had concealed on him since their capture. The guards had missed it during the search thanks to a bit of help from a concealment charm and a notice-me-not charm.

Pointing it straight at Palpatine who was too shocked to do anything but stand and stare, he snarled out "_Avada Kedavra_!"

The sickly green spell shot at the dictator, powered by Harry's hatred of everything the man had done to him, to the Jedi, and to the galaxy in general. It wasn't powered by hatred of Palpatine himself, but by an overwhelming need to stop the man from continuing to hurt the galaxy. The spell hit him and as he collapsed, Harry took advantage of the chaos to wrap his arms round Leia and apparate back to the Marauder. Seconds later they rocketed into space and then escaped into hyperspace.

Sitting back in the pilot's seat Harry grinned at Leia and said, "Well, I think we'll be persona non grata on Alderaan for quite a while after this."

Leia merely nodded, shivering. Seeing this Harry wrapped his arms round her and held her as she broke down. A while later she had cried herself out and was now only sniffing every now and then.

"Hey, we're safe now, everything's going to be fine" Harry said softly. Leia nodded, her head still tucked into his shoulder as she mumbled, "I was so scared Master, I mean, I'm not brave like you and Luke and Dad, and Mum. You fought a Dark Lord at my age and won, I bet you weren't scared."

Harry chuckled. "Leia, I was terrified then. I was trapped in an unknown location, with a Dark Lord who had taken my blood to help resurrect himself, and all his followers were surrounding us. I was terrified, but I did what I had to do and then I did exactly what you did, I broke down and cried. It's nothing to be ashamed of, you faced the prospect of your own death today and you did it with a calmness that I didn't have when in a similar situation at the same age. You did exactly what you had to do; you stayed calm and trusted that I could get us out of there. I'm very proud of you. Plus, I didn't win at that time, I merely held him off and then ran for it."

Leia looked up at him and gave him a watery smile. "Really? What about Dad, what's he going to think?"

Harry laughed. "Padawan, the only one he's going to be angry at is me, don't worry about that. And you are brave, the sort of bravery that your father and Luke have, and what I used to have, is called reckless charging in with no thought as to the consequences. Being brave is being afraid to do something, and doing it anyway which is what you did. Now, how about getting some sleep while I plot a roundabout course back home so we can't be followed by pesky Imperials."

Leia chuckled and hugged Harry tightly, a hug which he returned in full before flopping down on her bed in her cabin. Harry plotted a roundabout route to Yavin, including a short hop through an asteroid field which would throw off any pursuers, and then went to bed himself, waking to help Leia through a nightmare before sleeping again.

Meanwhile, on Yavin, Luke and Obi-Wan, as well as Tamsin and Anakin and Damien and Gareth had arrived back from their missions. Obi-Wan and Luke had been scouting round Hoth, looking at the possibility of setting up a base there. Both were freezing cold and swearing that if the Rebels set up a base on Hoth then they were staying on Yavin. Neither could tolerate extreme temperatures very well and Obi-Wan was particularly susceptible to extreme cold.

Tamsin and Anakin had arrived back on Yavin with a contingent of Aurors, Unspeakables and other wizards and witches that had been friends of Harry's when he was younger. Most of the older generation had died but Harry's friends were happy at the thought of knocking the Imperial government out of existence. After being introduced, the magical group was settled into the Jedi Temple guest quarters, and started learning what type of equipment they'd be using.

Damien and Gareth arrived back on Yavin with a large group of smugglers and outlaws in tow, led by Han Solo and Chewbacca. Most of the group chose to live on their ships, coming into the Rebel base for meals and other entertainment but otherwise living separately. Han and Chewbacca were the exception, moving into quarters just across from Damien and Gareth's apartment.

The three Master/Padawan pairs gathered in the dining hall for dinner, along with Ginny and Erylyn, and James and Lily. Halfway through the meal Gareth asked, "Where are Leia and Master Potter?" Shouldn't they be back by now?"

James, Lily and Ginny exchanged a glance before Ginny said in a shaky tone, "We heard that they'd been captured on Alderaan a week ago and sentenced to death. We've heard nothing since then. We don't know what's going on."

Anakin, Damien and Obi-Wan exchanged a startled look and then Anakin and Damien reached out to Harry through the Force. A few moments later they opened their eyes.

"He's alright. He's apparently on his way back here, with Leia. We'll no doubt get the full story then but he's OK. Don't worry" Anakin said softly, hugging Ginny. She clung to him for a second before letting go.

"Thanks. I'm going to kill him myself though for worrying us like that" she snapped, not noticing the grins round the table at her statement. All of her companions knew she didn't mean it; she was just expressing her relief at her husband's safety.

A week later the Marauder touched down in the Temple hangar bay, and an exhausted pair of Jedi walked out to be met with a welcoming committee. Harry took one look at their faces and stopped.

"Uh oh, I think I'm in trouble" he commented. Leia pried her eyes open, having just about fallen asleep on her feet and giggled. "I think you are Master. Maybe I can put it off a bit."

Harry waved her forward. "See what you can do Leia. Your diplomacy teacher has been singing your praises so show me what you've learnt."

Leia hugged him and walked down the ramp and up to the group which consisted of Anakin and Tamsin, Obi-Wan and Luke, James, Lily, Ginny and Mace. All of them were glaring at Harry, although Luke and Tamsin looked relieved as well that Leia was alright.

"While I'm sure that you all want to yell at Master Harry, would you please consider postponing it for a while?" Leia asked. Anakin frowned, and replied,

"Why? He almost got you killed, not to mention himself, why shouldn't we let him have it?"

Leia tilted her head to one side and said, "Two reasons. One is that all of us here are Jedi, or at least part of the Order. We all understand the risks we take when we go out on missions with the galaxy in its current state. He had a plan to get us out of our situation, a plan which worked perfectly and we're OK. Well, I am, he was injured in the escape but he hasn't said anything about it."

Anakin raised one eyebrow and said, "And the second reason is..?"

Not missing a beat Leia said, "We're both tired, hungry and need a bath as well so you will get the details after we're rested, fed and made our report to the Council. OK?"

Anakin was about to reply when a chuckle from behind him made him turn. Padme was standing there, her eyes full of mirth as she looked at the two of them. "She's just like me Anakin, you're not going to win an argument with her without pulling rank. Let them go, I'm no Healer but even I can see that the two of them are almost dead on their feet."

A wince from Ginny made her realize what she'd said and she hastily apologised. Waving it off, Ginny approached Harry, who stared at her warily. Ginny marched right up to him and then slapped him across the face before grabbing him in a tight hug.

"Never do that to us again you great prat!" she whispered into his ear. Harry merely hugged her back and whispered, "I won't. It was an unfortunate accident but we're both fine. We do need to report to the Council though so if you'll let us through?"

Ginny reluctantly let him go and Harry went off to report to the Council, followed by Leia. When they got back to their quarters they showered, ate and then fell into their respective beds, dead to the world for the rest of the day and that night.

When they woke up the following morning they found the same group that had comprised the welcoming committee seated in their living room. Exchanging a wry look they flopped down onto the couch and then Harry asked,

"So what do you want to know first?"

The question and answer session went on for half an hour, with Harry and Leia explaining the relative success of their mission and then the disastrous end to it. Finally Luke broke in with,

"But if you were hanged, how come you're not dead?"

Harry chuckled. "They had Force suppressors on us, so we couldn't use the Force. Happily, they don't stop magic so I used wandless, silent magic to save myself and Leia. It confused the hell out of the executioner as well."

At the looks of confusion on his audience's faces he continued, "As I disappeared out of sight of the crowd I used a levitation charm on myself and vanished the ropes round my wrists and neck. Then I merely took hold of the rope, wrapped it round my wrists and hung on while it stopped. My arms, wrists and shoulders took the strain of the sudden stop, not my neck. It was split second timing, anyone who wasn't a wizard as well as a Jedi couldn't have done it."

"So which bone did you break?" Lily asked. Harry looked at her and grinned sheepishly. "My right wrist Mum. Don't worry I used the Reparo charm on it."

Harry then ducked several pillows as Lily shrieked, "Harry James Potter the Reparo charm is not designed for broken bones!"

Coming up from behind the couch he protested, "Hey, it worked. My wrist's fine I, OW!"

Lily had grabbed the wrist in question, discovered where the break had been and had promptly re-broken it. "This time it will be set and healed properly by a qualified healer!" she huffed as Harry sat back down on the couch, studiously ignoring the rest of his extended family as they gave up on their efforts to hide their amusement and openly laughed at the scene.

"Hey Ginny, any chance you'd let Erylyn get some practice at bone setting?" Harry asked. Ginny thought for a moment and then nodded, beckoning the aforementioned Padawan forward for a lesson on healing broken bones the proper way.

"Now, most patients will be cooperative when you do this but in cases like this where you have a patient with a healthy paranoia of the infirmary, you have to make sure they stay still long enough for you to work. Fortunately the only Jedi that are like this are Master Kenobi and Harry here."

Harry and Obi-Wan gave Ginny dirty looks as Erylyn giggled at what Ginny had said, but Harry obediently stayed still while the Padawan poked and prodded him, occasionally looking up at the ceiling.

"One word Padawan and you'll be scrubbing the Marauder from top to bottom, inside and out, plus checking all the engine parts as well" he threatened when he saw Leia grinning. She wiped the smile off her face but couldn't quite suppress a chuckle. Harry merely shook his head and then looked down when he sensed that Erylyn had finished.

His wrist was now set properly in a bone-knitter which was a device that helped to speed the healing of broken bones. Moving his arm about he smiled in delight and then looked at Erylyn.

"Thank you Padawan you did a splendid job."

Erylyn merely smiled at him and retreated to the infirmary to put away the unused equipment. Anakin then spoke up, having been thinking about something ever since Harry had given his account of the mission.

"Hey Harry, is Palpatine dead? I know you said the Killing Curse hit him but is he dead?"

Harry looked startled. "I don't know. It should have done the job but then, a prophecy is involved and with those things you never know."

He reached out with the Force, searching for Palpatine's distinct Force signature. He found it, very weak and only a faint flicker compared to its usual bright flame but still there. Opening his eyes he said in disgust, "He didn't die. Hit by a full strength killing curse and the bastard still didn't die!"

There was a chuckle from behind him and he turned round to see the spirit of Voldemort materialize out of thin air. Groaning, Harry asked, "What the hell do you want?"

Voldemort merely chuckled and replied, "I just wanted to say; now you know how I felt every time you wouldn't roll over and die when I tried to kill you. I have absolutely no sympathy for you."

Harry just threw a pillow at him in reply and got up. It was time for him to meet with the Rebellion's new allies.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: New Allies, Jedi Rivals and Shadowy Developments**

Harry was making his way to where the witches and wizards were being housed when a yell made him look up.

"HARRY!" yelled two excited voices and then Harry felt two bodies crash into his as his mind registered that two of the helpers from Earth were Ron and Hermione. Once his brain had processed that he hugged them as enthusiastically as they were hugging him.

"Guys, it's great to see you. Who else is here?" he enquired once he'd got his breath back. Ron grinned at him. "Snape, McGonagall, Malfoy, Fred, George, Tonks, Kingsley, a few others. Most of the old DA is here, including Neville and Luna; they married a few years ago. Oh and we brought our son with us."

Turning round, Ron pulled a red headed boy who looked to be about fourteen or fifteen towards him. "Harry may I present Sirius Ronald Weasley."

Harry raised his eyebrows and Hermione blushed. "We couldn't resist" she admitted. Shaking his head, Harry met Sirius' eyes and smiled. "Hello" he said.

Sirius smiled back and said "Hello. Are you really a Jedi?"

Harry laughed. "Yes I am. Oh, before I forget, Ron, Hermione, I'd like you to meet my daughter, she's around here somewhere. Oh there she is. Tamsin!"

Ron and Hermione watched as Tamsin ran up to Harry, both immediately noticing the resemblance between father and daughter. Sirius was staring at her and looked star struck. Noticing this Tamsin chuckled and held out her hand.

"Tamsin Potter, pleased to meet you" she said. Sirius took her hand and shook it. "Sirius Weasley, pleased to meet you too."

Tamsin pulled him away. "Come on, I'll show you round this place while we leave our parents to their reunion." Sirius went happily enough; he couldn't wait to start exploring anyway.

"I think I'm seeing the start of a beautiful relationship" Hermione murmured as Sirius and Tamsin began arguing good naturedly over something. Harry and Ron shook their heads in despair.

"Only if you're willing to move here Hermione, Tamsin is a Jedi, she always has been. I'm not letting her move back to Earth, and neither will her master."

"Her master?" Ron questioned. Harry nodded.

"Yes. If a Jedi is a parent, they cannot have their child as their apprentice. So, with me fathering Tamsin, and Anakin fathering Luke and Leia, we split them up. I am Leia's master, Obi-Wan is Luke's master and Anakin is Tamsin's master. Now, can we go and meet the others?"

Ron and Hermione looked at each other before dragging Harry off to meet with his old friends. They emerged for dinner and the Golden Trio seemed once more to be the solid entity that it had been in days gone by. Ron and Hermione were introduced to Harry's extended Jedi family and for the most part got on well. Sirius had a harder time since Tamsin, Luke and Leia were just as much a trio as Harry, Ron and Hermione had been, with Gareth making them a quartet. They made every effort to be welcoming however so he was soon counted as one of their friends.

Several months later saw Harry spending a great deal of time with Han and Chewbacca, as well as other smugglers. Han spent most of that time admiring the Marauder, and offering tips to Harry on how to improve it. Harry countered by offering Han tips on how to improve his ship, the Millenium Falcon. Both of them frequently came to meals arguing over mechanics which left all their friends rolling their eyes and ignoring them. Harry wasn't just spending all his time with Han however, he was building strong and solid alliances with all the smugglers, and several of them had set off on missions already, to harrass the Empire's supply lines and steal any equipment that the Rebellion could use. In return, Harry had found himself with a circle of friends that gave him a good insight into the criminal element of the Empire.

One afternoon, Harry was walking into the dining hall with Snape, having spent several hours talking with him, discussing the nature of the Dark, and discussing what, if any weaknesses Palpatine might have. Snape was impressed by Harry's cheating of death and remarked that the grim reaper must be highly annoyed with him by now. Harry had countered with the comment that Voldemort would be higher on the reaper's shit list as he'd been dodging death a whole lot longer than Harry had.

Stopping dead, Harry growled and shook his head as he spotted the one person he didn't want to see, Jedi Master Darren Mikal. Snape followed his line of sight and raised his eyebrows.

"Someone you don't particularly like Harry?" he asked. Harry nodded shortly. "Even among the Jedi you get personality clashes Severus and he and I get on about as well as you and I did when I was a Hogwarts student. Worse, in fact."

"I see" Snape commented. When Harry turned slightly to look at him he shrugged. "I'm looking forward to the entertainment" he offered. This earnt him an amused snort from Harry and they walked towards a table that had Obi-Wan, Ginny, Mace and Tamsin sitting at it. Anakin, Damien, Gareth and Leia were at another table nearby, with several of Harry's old DA friends.

"Better watch out Harry, Darren's in a foul mood today, no one really knows why" Obi-Wan commented. Harry shrugged. "As long as he leaves me alone I don't really care what he does" he replied before digging into his food. His companions looked at each other and shrugged before turning to their own meals. About halfway through, Snape asked, "Why do Harry and Darren not get on?"

There was silence for a few minutes while an answer was worked out. Finally Harry sat back and looked at the ceiling before looking directly at Snape and saying, "It's a combination of things. It started really when we were both Padawans. He didn't think I belonged in the Jedi Order, and he resented my inclusion in Obi-Wan's group of friends, when he'd been trying to get into their group for a while. When we were both Knights it turned into a sort of competition, on his side at least, over who had the most successful missions. I've tried to be nothing but polite and friendly to him whenever I've met him but it's not working."

"And what about now?" Snape commented. Harry sighed. "He keeps trying to offer tips on how to raise and train a Padawan. Naturally I resent this, seeing that he's never trained a Padawan and I'm on my third. I wouldn't mind advice from other Masters that have trained or are training Padawans but to be told how to train my own apprentice by one that has no experience and doesn't know what he's talking about!"

"Are his ideas so bad Master?" Tamsin asked. Normally she would have called Harry Dad but in this company she opted for the formal mode of address. Harry smiled at her briefly before growling, "If I used his ideas, Leia would be utterly miserable and I'd be up before the Council for a review of my training techniques. That dolt over there thinks I'm too lenient, I think that if he had a Padawan, his techniques would be called far too harsh. The best thing to do is just stay out of his way."

"That's easier said than done Master, Luke, Leia and I all have him for an instructor in our Ethics class this term" was Tamsin's reply. Harry scowled and then looked at Snape. "If he tries anything, report it to your master immediately. I don't want him going after you or Leia simply because he dislikes me."

Tamsin frowned. "You think he might?"

Snape leaned forward, capturing her eyes with his. Lowering his voice to that silky soft yet menacing tone that made first year witches and wizards wet themselves with fear, he said, "He very well might Padawan Potter. After all, I spent five and a half years tormenting your father because of my hatred for your grandfather. Or hasn't your father told you about that?"

Shaking off the fear that was slowly crawling up her spine, Tamsin met his eyes squarely and hissed out, "That intimidation trick might work on witches and wizards on Earth but I am a Jedi. Therefore, it doesn't work on me. So stop it!"

Snape leaned back and dropped the menacing persona immediately. "You're just like your father you know. He too refused to let himself be intimidated by me, even though he was. He just wouldn't admit it. He hated me back, and that gave him the strength to withstand our battles of will, which I won of course."

Harry snorted. "Only because our positions were so unequal. A student could never win against a teacher, and you used that to your advantage you snarky git. Kindly don't try it with her again though. She has my stubbornness and Ginny's temper. Quite a volatile combination."

Snape chuckled briefly before falling silent once more and they finished their lunch in amicable silence. On the way out of the dining hall, headed for the training rooms, their path was blocked by Darren, who had a nasty look on his face. He also had Leia gripped firmly by one arm and the nearly fifteen year old was alternately glaring at her captor and wincing at the tightness of the man's grip on her arm.

Harry's first words were so soft as to be almost inaudible, yet the tone he delivered them in was so close to the one that Snape had used earlier that the former Dark wizard was muttering about patent stealers.

"Let. Her. Go."

Darren smirked. "Now why would I want to do that Potter? I think we need to have a chat, somewhere private, and I want your friend over there to be a witness."

"Witness to what precisely?" he enquired, restraining his temper with difficulty. He could see the bruises forming on Leia's arm already, and he was seething. Darren smirked. "Nothing much Potter, just a witness to what I'm going to do to your apprentice by way of discipline for her disrespect of me just now."

Harry growled as Leia burst out, "It wasn't disrespect, I was being perfectly polite!"

Harry looked at Darren in disgust. "You forget yourself Master Mikal. If there is any need for discipline, then I will be the one to dispense it, not you. Let's go somewhere private and I will listen to both sides of the story. But first, would you kindly let her go. You're hurting her."

Darren smiled, but it wasn't a nice smile. "Fine. Let's go." He led the way to a meditation room and Harry walked in, looking completely calm. Snape followed, having been quietly asked by Harry to accompany them. Harry did want at least one outside witness to this, as the animosity between himself and Darren was well known.

"Now, what happened?" Harry questioned, leaning against the wall and looking at both Darren and Leia. Darren glared at Leia and began his tirade.

"Your apprentice deliberately bumped into me and managed to spill the remains of her lunch all over me. Then she had the gall to say "Oops" before apologizing."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "But she did apologise?"

"Yes!" Leia all but yelled in frustration. Harry looked at her and she fell silent. She knew that she'd get her turn to speak and speaking out of turn now would only annoy her master.

"So, why do you accuse my Padawan of disrespect if she apologised?" Harry asked, growing rather tired of the other Master standing across from him. Darren growled and replied heatedly, "Because of the tone she used. Plus it is disrespect for a Padawan to deliberately spill food on a Master!"

"You sound like an Initiate trying desperately to justify their own point of view when they know they're wrong" Harry informed Darren, his disgust growing. "What is your side of the story Padawan?"

Leia stood a bit straighter and said, "I was going up to hand my tray in and accidentally bumped into Master Mikal here. When that happened my tray slipped and the leftover food dropped into his lap. It was an accident and I apologised. I wasn't being disrespectful Master, I wouldn't be!"

Harry held up a hand. "OK Leia, calm down." He watched as she calmed down slowly, knowing that she was feeling persecuted by this whole process, and annoyed, as he was, at the fact that Darren had chosen to make a mountain out of a molehill.

"So you admit that she apologised do you Darren?" he said, preparing to wrap the whole matter up. Darren glared at him but nodded grudgingly. Harry nodded sharply and continued, "Right. As she has in fact apologised, and I'm inclined to believe that the incident was an accident, then nothing more needs to be done. Accept her apology graciously and leave her alone. One little bump in the dining hall does not need to be turned into a drama like this, it happens all the time."

Darren growled and turned on Leia. "Your master might be willing to leave it there but I'm not." He reached for her, and Leia took a step back. Darren tried to move towards her only to find that he was being held back by a furious Jedi Master.

"Lay one finger on her and I'll have you up before the Council on assault charges you egotistical imbecile" Harry hissed. "Now get out of here and leave me and my apprentice alone!"

Harry released Darren who had no choice but to leave the room as Harry was glaring at him and tapping his lightsaber as though he'd like nothing better than to duel Darren and wipe the floor with him.

As Harry, Leia and Snape walked towards the training hall, Snape asked, "Why did you say that about him not being allowed to discipline Leia?"

Harry shrugged. "By Jedi law a Padawan may only be disciplined by their master. If another Knight or Master has to do so, then permission from the Padawan's master must be sought and most won't give it unless they are present to witness it. An exception to this rule is classroom situations, but misbehavior there is handled with normal things such as detention and things like that."

"So what happens when a Padawan is caught misbehaving by a Knight or Master who isn't their master?" Neville asked. Harry looked round to see that various members of the DA as well as Mace and Obi-Wan had come up behind them.

"The Padawan is either escorted home or their master is called to come and collect them."

"Yes, like the time I and Qui-Gon had to come and collect you and Obi-Wan from the Coruscant Security holding cells after you'd been arrested for drunk driving" Mace commented blandly. Harry blushed as his friends stared at him before laughing.

"I thought we'd agreed not to bring that up again" he groused, glaring good naturedly at Mace who merely ruffled Harry's hair, ignoring the complaint from his former apprentice that doing that in public was undignified. Just then they reached the indoor training hall and the main group spread out along the sides while Harry and Leia walked to the middle.

"What do you say Leia, let's give them a show" he said as he removed his robe and began to stretch. Leia nodded and dropped into the familiar routine, stretching and loosening her muscles alongside her master. "Yes lets. Although, afterwards, could we do a sort of competition, us against them."

"You mean get them to fire spells at us and have us block them?" Harry questioned. Leia nodded once more and replied, "Yes Master, it would give us practice in blocking and them practice in shielding and dodging."

Thinking about it for a moment Harry nodded. "OK but only if you're not too tired. If you are then we'll postpone the other thing until you've recovered." Seeing the bruises on her arm from where Darren had grabbed her he reached out, his fingers tingling with healing energy from the Force. Leia grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

"Thank you Master, but I'll heal them after the match. I've fought while injured before and these don't even count as proper injuries. I'm alright, really."

Harry scowled but reluctantly withdrew his hand, gripping his lightsaber instead. Injured or not, Leia Skywalker was turning out to be as cunning an opponent as her father, and as fast with a lightsaber as Harry. Taking a leaf out of Harry's book, Leia had also created a lightstaff, which gave Harry an idea.

"Hey Padawan, if we really want to give them a show, how about both of us using our lightstaffs?" Leia gasped in shock and then grinned, her competitive spirit firing up at the thought. "Yes, please" she said, and Harry grinned at her.

Somersaulting away to land on the edge of the ring, Harry activated his lightstaff, the twin silver blades hissing to life and instantly bringing silence to the hall. Harry rarely fought with his lightstaff, although he kept himself familiar with it and with the steel sword blades as well. A second double hiss from the other side of the room brought murmurs as Leia's bright green blades hissed to life as well. This was going to be a fight to remember.

The two saluted each other and then dropped into their ready positions, waiting to start. It was Leia who attacked first, and she attacked fast, her lightstaff spinning in a complicated move that would have separated Harry into three pieces had he not blocked it. He countered with a strike to her head, then arm, then torso, all at speed, and he couldn't help feeling a burst of pride when Leia blocked each one cleanly, as she'd been having trouble blocking consecutive attacks at that speed before.

Leia leapt upwards, aiming for one of the beams near the ceiling. Harry watched her go and then Apparated directly behind her. This was a mistake as Leia promptly thrust her weapon backwards, singeing his middle as he leapt backwards to avoid being "killed."

"Nice try" he said, panting slightly. Leia grinned at him, thoroughly enjoying the fight.

"Getting old Master?" she teased. Harry shook his head, a gleam in his eyes.

"Never" he said before attacking again, driving Leia backwards along the beam until she leapt to one of the catwalks. Following her once again, he noticed something. Although Leia had said she was OK to fight, she was ever so slightly favoring the arm that Darren had bruised. Seeing an easy way to end the fight Harry knocked his apprentice's lightstaff out of the way, avoiding the second blade as it whipped upwards, seeking to bisect him up the middle, and then brought his own blade down on Leia's arm when she overextended herself.

Unable to hold onto the weapon as Harry's blade had come down more or less directly on top of the bruises, Leia sank to her knees and Harry lightly touched the side of her neck.

"Kill touch" he said quietly before offering her a hand up. Leia nodded and accepted the hand, rising slowly. "Ouch" she said, rubbing her arm. The blades were set on low power so they did little more than sting but on top of the earlier bruise it was quite painful.

"Let me see" Harry requested. Leia obediently gave him her arm and Harry lightly ran a finger over the injuries. "I apologise Padawan, it was my intention to attack your arm but I didn't intend to touch the bruised area itself. Will you let me heal it or are you going to heal it yourself?"

Leia looked at him and replied softly, "You can if you want to Master." She could see that he felt bad about causing her more pain than he'd meant to and healing it would make him feel better again so she let him. A few seconds later and she felt the tingling of the Force as Harry healed the bruises.

"Done. Just stay away from Master Mikal and you should be fine. If he seeks you out though, come and tell me, I can always get a restraining order against him" he commented.

Leia chuckled. "That might make Ethics a bit difficult Master." Harry chuckled as well before sending her off to shower and change. He himself threw a towel round his shoulders and went back to their quarters to do the same. Leia took advantage of the female changing rooms connected to the training hall.

Later that evening, Exar Kun stirred in his prison in the Sith temple. Closing his eyes, the ancient Sith concentrated, reaching out to his future apprentice. Gareth had had almost a year since the first seeds of darkness had been sown in him and they had since been fed every time he'd had to repress his emotions rather than release them. The almost sixteen year old was still unaware of the small patch of darkness. He was also unaware that it had grown into a small reservoir inside him. Exar Kun smiled coldly; it was now time to see if more overt action could be taken to turn the Padawan from the light. It still wouldn't be easy but with time, it could be done.

**Author Note**

**Yes! Finally the system is back up and working. For those who want to know how old Harry is, he's approximately 48, almost 49. Anakin is approximately 40, almost 41. So in wizarding terms, Harry is still fairly young which means he's able to thrash most people in a fight. Anakin is about the same. James and Lily would be about mid sixties I think, and Obi-Wan is two years younger than Harry so he's 46 to 47 years old. **

**May the Force be with you**

**Padawan Lynne**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: Arguments and Shadows **

Anakin was busy going over a report on the latest Rebel mission to harass the Empire, which had succeeded beyond their wildest dreams, and talking to McGonagall, who had insisted that he call her Minerva, when the door to the apartment hissed open and two upset and angry Padawans stormed in.

Anakin and Minerva shared a glance before Anakin put the report aside and leaned back in his chair. "What's the problem girls?" he asked. Tamsin and Leia flopped down on the nearest seats and glared at him.

"We HATE Ethics!" they snarled in unison before looking at each other in shock. Anakin raised an eyebrow. "Is it the subject you hate or the teacher?" he enquired mildly. Tamsin and Leia looked at each other and then Leia muttered, "The teacher. Master Mikal is a biased old git, just because he doesn't like Master Harry he's busy doing everything he can to make sure we fail!"

Now Minerva chuckled outright. When Tamsin and Leia turned to glare at her she held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. "I'm sorry but the number of times I heard Harry complaining about Severus for more or less the same reasons; I just think it's funny that history seems to be repeating itself."

Anakin had been thinking while Minerva was busy explaining her amusement. "What do you mean; he's doing the best he can to make sure you fail?"

Tamsin growled. "Every single assignment or test, our classmates pass with medium to high marks, while Leia and I barely pass, or fail entirely. It's not because we don't study, it's because of the biased git we have for a teacher."

Anakin frowned while Minerva asked, "Is this course important?"

Leia nodded. "Yes, once we've passed this course we'll be eligible for the higher level Ethics courses. We might not be old enough to be considered for Senior Padawan level but we can move up to a higher class level if we pass this one."

"How old are you now?"

"Fifteen and a half."

Minerva nodded. The twins and Tamsin had celebrated their fifteenth birthdays several months ago, and were now halfway through the current term of classes. Their other classes, Galactic Languages, Diplomacy, Flying, Astrophysics and Advanced Force Manipulation were fine.

"Is Luke doing OK?" Anakin asked after a period of silence while Tamsin and Leia calmed down. Tamsin looked at him and then replied after a brief pause, "Yes. It's only Leia and I that are having problems and that's only because we're both connected to Harry. I'm Harry's daughter and Leia is his Padawan and that is enough in Master Mikal's eyes to condemn us to failure."

Anakin's eyes narrowed. "I'll speak to Master Mikal about this, what he's doing is extremely unethical, not to mention unprofessional."

This drew nods from the two Padawans and Tamsin muttered, "You'd best not tell my father what he said about my mother though."

Anakin raised an eyebrow and Tamsin blushed slightly. "I won't repeat it Master, it's completely foul."

"So what homework have you got today?" Minerva asked in order to break the awkward silence that had arisen. She was then introduced to the mysteries of navigation, languages, and other things while Anakin rose and went in search of Darren. What he had to say to him wasn't going to be pleasant, and didn't need to be said in front of witnesses.

Left alone in the room Minerva then asked, "So where is Harry, I haven't seen him lately." Leia looked up from her Astrophysics homework and replied, "He's gone to Corellia with Han and Chewbacca to see if he can get some more help for the Rebellion. That's why I'm staying with Tamsin and my father, which is rather odd."

Minerva looked confused so Leia elaborated, "He's my father but he's also a Jedi Master as well and at the moment he's looking after me so I have to think of him as another Master which is difficult at times because I also think of him as my father."

Minerva chuckled and dropped the topic. Silence descended once more on the room punctuated only by the occasional growl as various questions in the homework caused confusion. When dinner rolled round, Ginny stuck her head in the door and smiled.

"Hey you three, want dinner? Where's Anakin?"

"Having words with Darren about his tendency to grade us unfairly because of our relationships with Master Harry" Leia replied, before saving her completed homework and throwing the datapad on the table, where it landed on a stack of other datapads. The pile wobbled briefly before falling to the floor in a crash. Closing her eyes in frustration Leia waved her hand and the fallen objects picked themselves up and flew back to the table, arranging into a neat pile again.

"Coming Mum" Tamsin smiled and put her homework down as well. Not all of it needed to be done for the following day but both Padawans liked to do as much as possible on the day it was assigned, so that it wasn't left to the last minute. Luke was more inclined to leave things for a while but he usually ended up finishing assignments on time as well.

When they reached the dining hall Tamsin and Leia split up. Tamsin went to sit with Sirius while Leia sat with Gareth. There was nothing except friendship between Tamsin and Sirius as the two were cousins, but the same couldn't be said for Gareth, who had a crush on Leia, which she hadn't noticed yet. Ten minutes after they'd sat down, Anakin walked into the room, hungry and annoyed. Spotting Tamsin he headed over to their table.

"I was able to get him to back down a bit but not much. If he continues like he has been, tell me or Harry when he gets back and we'll deal with him."

Tamsin nodded and went back to her dinner. Having delivered his message, Anakin wandered off to Leia's table and told her as well before sitting down with Draco and Ron, both of whom were busy coming up with strategies to drive the Emperor insane even quicker than Harry and Anakin were managing already. It seemed that old prejudices could be put aside in favor of a common goal - knocking the Emperor off his throne in the most embarrassing manner possible.

That night, while the rest of his friends slept peacefully, Gareth was twisting and turning in his bed, fighting to escape a dream that seemed more like a nightmare.

_He was in a huge battle, with stormtroopers and droids on one side, and himself and Leia on the other. He was fighting hard, using all the skills he'd been taught to kill the enemy, although he hated that it had come to that stage._

_Ducking and dodging blaster bolts, Gareth found that he was losing the fight. Annoyed, he fought harder, but still was being pushed back. Turning round for help, he heard a whispery voice around him._

"_Release your anger. Let it flow through you. The power to win this battle is inside you if you have the courage to use it."_

_Gareth frowned. The voice sounded like his master's voice but he wasn't sure. While he was considering the problem, he kept fighting. The voice came again._

"_Let go of your anger. Use your feelings, use the aggression inside you!"_

_Now Gareth was sure that it wasn't Damien. His master wouldn't tell him to use his aggression. Still, he was doing everything that Damien had taught him and he wasn't winning. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to let his aggression out just this once._

_Taking a deep breath, Gareth found all the aggression inside him, and let it out. As he did so he felt a rush of power such as he'd never experienced before. It was a heady feeling and armed with this new power he turned and destroyed all his enemies. When he was finished, the dream stopped and he sank back into a dreamless sleep._

Back in the Sith temple Exar Kun opened his eyes. He was very pleased. Gareth had put up some initial resistance but now that he'd experienced the power that the Dark Side could give him, even if it was in a dream, he would be more open to trying it again.

When he opened his eyes the next morning Gareth lay still for a moment, his mind going over the dream he'd had. It had been extremely disturbing. At sixteen years old, Gareth knew the dangers of opening himself to the Dark Side but the memory of the power he'd felt when he let go and allowed his pent up aggression to flow through him stayed in his mind no matter how much he tried to banish it.

At breakfast when he spotted Leia, Gareth couldn't help blushing slightly. Harry, who had got back late the night before noticed this and nudged Leia.

"What" she snapped. She wasn't a morning person, very much like her master, and hated being up early. Harry chuckled. "I think Gareth has a crush on you, given the way he was looking at you just now."

Leia looked round, startled. She and Gareth were friends, but she'd thought Gareth thought of her as nothing but a friend. Apparently she had been wrong. Her eyes met Gareth's and both looked away with a slight blush. Harry firmly kept his amusement under control, he well remembered his own first forays into this territory and didn't want Ginny bringing them up in order to get back at him if he dared to tease Leia. Not that he would of course.

"Just treat him as you always have and it will go somewhere if it's meant to go somewhere. If it's not then it won't. Don't worry too much about it" Harry said in an undertone before turning back to his breakfast. Leia nodded, occupied with figuring out this new side to her friend.

Over at Gareth's table, Damien had also noticed the interaction between Gareth and Leia. He smiled, wondering where this would go. He knew of Gareth's crush on Leia of course, but was more concerned over Gareth's unrest the previous night.

"Anything bothering you Padawan?" he asked as Gareth turned back towards him, having finished his current round of Leia-watching. Gareth shrugged.

"Not really Master."

Damien looked puzzled. "So last night, it was just a bad dream was it?"

Gareth fought down a momentary panic – did his master know what the dream was about? – and shrugged again. "Yeah. I can deal with it though."

Damien smiled. "OK. If you do want to talk at any stage, about anything, I'm always available."

Gareth smiled, and felt a surge of love for his master, as well as a sharp twinge of shame that he was hiding what his dream had really been about. He knew that Damien would help him if he asked for it, but he was at the age where he wanted to prove his growing independence, and his pride also demanded that he try and deal with this dream himself.

'After all, it was just a dream, I don't have to use the Dark Side to feel that power again' he thought as he returned his dishes and walked out of the dining hall on his way to his first class.

The dream haunted him though, and proved problematic in his Force manipulation class. Where before manipulation had come easily to him, the dream was messing with his concentration and only a shriek from Leia snapped him out of his fog of non-concentration.

"PUT ME DOWN GARETH!" Leia yelled as her friend had accidentally levitated her out of her chair and was levitating her near the ceiling. Gareth blinked and let her go, causing Leia to drop to the floor with a yelp. Concentrating hard, Leia thrust her hand down towards the rapidly rising floor and used the Force to catch herself.

The class stopped what they were doing in disbelief. Levitating oneself against gravity using the Force was considered extremely difficult. Shaking with the effort, Leia felt the Force form itself into a platform underneath her and she was floated gently down to the floor again. She turned round to see the instructor opening his eyes, and realized that he'd been the one to lower her back to safety.

"Thank you Master Aspen" she said, horrified to hear a slight waver in her voice. Aspen nodded and gestured for her to return to her seat, which she did gratefully. Leia spent the rest of the lesson working on the exercises he'd set while Gareth endured a short lecture on the benefits of paying attention in class before sitting back down next to Leia.

"Sorry" he whispered. He hadn't meant to levitate her like he had, but he couldn't concentrate today thanks to that dream. Leia just nodded, having forgiven him already. They didn't talk any more until the end of the class, both absorbed in helping each other with the exercises. When the class had ended though, Leia cornered him outside.

"OK Gareth, what the hell is going on? You've never been so unfocused in that class, what's up?"

Gareth winced. "Leia, you have to keep this a secret. I had a weird dream last night and I'm trying to figure out what it means. I'm finding it difficult to concentrate on anything except that dream today. It's annoying but I can't do anything about it."

"Yes you can" Leia snapped, walking forward until Gareth was trapped against the wall. "Talk to your master, he'll be able to help you."

Gareth sighed. "I can't," he said, seeming to collapse in on himself. "In the dream I was fighting a whole lot of stormtroopers and I was losing, despite the fact that I was using everything that my master has taught me. The only way I was able to win was by using the Dark Side."

As Leia took a step back from him he flinched. "See. Even you can't stand to be near me now. What am I turning into?"

Leia shook her head. "You're not turning into anything and I can stand to be near you. Just because this happened in a dream doesn't mean that it will come true. Dreams are sometimes just that, dreams. Talk to your master, that's what he's there for you know."

Gareth chuckled but it sounded hollow and dispirited. He and Leia walked back to his quarters, and neither of them noticed when Leia's hand slipped into Gareth's.

Two hours later it was time for their Stealth and Tracking class, where they used the Force to locate their instructor while he was busy hiding his presence in the Force. This class was highly popular as it was taught by Anakin.

The Jedi quartet, that being Tamsin, Luke, Leia and Gareth had left the rest of the class struggling at the second obstacle. Anakin liked to put false clues here and there along the trail leading to his location. Several class members had already gone off the trail at the first false clue, and had landed in one of the Weasley twins portable swamps. They were safer than the real swamp on the other side of the planet.

The rules were that if you got caught in one of the traps you had to go back to the beginning and keep doing this until you navigated the trail correctly. It was supposed to teach the Padawans to not immediately rush off after the obvious solution. Sometimes the real clue was hidden and the fake was in plain view. It was a lesson that they could apply to almost any situation they faced in life, not just when it came to tracking which most of them didn't realise until much later on.

"Now what?" Tamsin grumbled as she pulled a thorn out of her hair. She loved these classes that her master taught but didn't truly like getting her hair tangled. It took ages to get it detangled again. Luke lay down beside her, not as averse to getting dirty.

"Now we figure out the fourth clue. Didn't Dad say that this trail would have six clues?" Tamsin nodded.

"Yes so we're over halfway. How are our classmates doing?"

"Badly" Gareth snickered. "Half of them have had to restart at least once; we're the only team with no restarts so far." The other three chuckled at this before Luke spotted what he thought was the next clue.

"Got it" he hissed triumphantly. Gareth, Tamsin and Leia looked at it. It was a scrap of cloth, looking like it had been torn off a Jedi tunic. They frowned. "Are you sure this is the right clue Luke?" Leia asked.

Luke looked a bit put out at his sister questioning his deductive skills. "Yes I'm sure. The trail continues on…this way." He plunged into the forest, Tamsin and Leia following behind with Gareth bringing up the rear. Halfway on their new trail they discovered that they'd been fooled when they got caught in another Weasley product.

"You were saying" Tamsin grumbled as they headed back to the start. Luke didn't reply, busy cleaning slime out of his ears, nose and mouth. Leia didn't look any better. Gareth remained silent, fighting off a feeling which seemed to be pulling at him to return to the Sith temple. Up above them Anakin chuckled. His hiding place was a ledge above the main trail, which the trail led up to.

"Not quite as smart as you think you are" he murmured, before retreating to reinforce his shielding. The next team was coming up close to the false clue that had led his family astray and he wanted to see if they were fooled as well.

In the end, Tamsin, Luke, Leia and Gareth came in second overall, with the first placed team being their main rivals in the class. It was a friendly rivalry though, not like the one that existed between Harry and Darren, and the quartet was able to congratulate the winners without feeling any real bitterness over having lost. They had come in a close second; they were on the last clue when the flare went up announcing that one of the teams had found Anakin. The rest of the teams had been two clues behind them.

Later that evening, Damien stopped by Gareth's bedroom door. He frowned and reached over his bond with Gareth. Despite the teenager's assurances that it was just a normal teenage type of dream, he was worried. Something didn't seem to ring true with Gareth's assurances and he wanted answers.

Gareth felt his master's mental touch and threw up shields. The dream was something he didn't want Damien seeing until he'd got somewhere with it.

"_Release your anger. It is the only way to truly achieve your potential" the voice whispered. Gareth spun around in a circle, searching for the mysterious voice. A shimmer of light drew his attention and then Exar Kun stepped out of the shadows._

"_Hello my young apprentice" he said with a cold smile. Gareth shook his head and backed away. "I will never be your apprentice" he hissed. _

_The Sith Lord shook his head. "You have tasted the Dark, young Padawan. Can you honestly tell me you didn't enjoy the power it brought you? Can you honestly say that you didn't feel more confident, more in tune with the Force when you were using the Dark Side? The Light will stifle you, will never allow you to achieve your full potential. Let me help you to know your full power."_

_Gareth shook his head again and backed further away. "No. I won't join you. I can live without that power. It's not worth it."_

_Exar Kun smiled and then said softly, "Is it? I wonder how long you will be able to last. You don't have to answer now. Just think about it."_

_With that he faded away and Gareth was left to fight hundreds of enemies alone again. He saw his friends and his family fall around him, and a cold anger ignited inside him. He shook his head, fighting to not use it, fighting to keep control. It was no use, as more and more of his friends died he lost his control. Anger, fear and aggression swirled round inside him and he leapt back into the fight, using the emotions to fuel him. Once more he felt the sensation of pure, unlimited power rushing through him and he reveled in it, despite knowing that it went against everything that he'd been taught._

_When all the enemies were defeated the dream vanished again._

Gareth awoke with a gasp, and noticed that he was sweaty and trembling, as if he'd just run a marathon in his sleep. Shaking his head, he attempted to go to sleep again, alert to any sign of the dream returning. As he slid into a dreamless sleep he mumbled, "I will never join you."

Damien, who was listening outside the door, frowned. There was a mystery here, a mystery that seemed to be threatening his Padawan's wellbeing and he wouldn't stand for it. The first thing he was going to do the next morning was get some answers. If there was one thing he couldn't stand it was a mystery.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: Approaching Darkness **

The next morning, Gareth woke up and lay in bed for a minute. He thought about Leia's advice and then sighed. It was time to shelve his pride and ask for help. The closest person to ask was right outside his door.

As he opened his bedroom door, both Master and Padawan said the same thing at the same time: "I need to talk to you."

They stopped and stared at each other for a minute before Damien chuckled and stood aside so Gareth could leave his room. The pair ate breakfast in their lounge area before Damien floated the dishes to the sink and then sat back.

"Leave them for later, we have more important things to do than those. You first though, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Gareth took a breath and then drew a blank. How on earth was he supposed to start this? Seeing that his Padawan was struggling, Damien asked a gentle question.

"Was it about the dreams you've been having for the past couple of nights?"

Gareth nodded stiffly and then the whole story suddenly came spilling out. What he experienced when he let the Dark Side take over, his frustration that he couldn't win the dream battles with the Light Side of the Force only, the fear that the Sith might be right and above all the overwhelming sense that he couldn't continue to fight against it much longer. The Dark Side was addictive, and Gareth was experiencing that fully.

Damien sat and listened, carefully concealing the growing horror within him. He knew that Gareth's bottled up aggression had opened the apprentice to the lure of the Dark but hadn't known that the spirit of Exar Kun would go this far to get him. Finally he cleared his throat, and reached out to Gareth, putting an arm round his shoulders. Gareth leaned into the touch, not caring that he was sixteen, and thought himself too old for that kind of comfort most of the time.

"What are we going to do about this?" the Padawan finally asked. Damien thought carefully. "I don't know" he finally admitted. "Your admission that you found the Dark Side to be invigorating is worrisome, however, your courage in fighting it and refusing to turn so far tells me that you're still on the right path. I'm not going to give up on you Gareth. You can definitely believe that. I think that that dead fossil in the forest wants you for his apprentice, and he's trying more tactics to see what you respond to. Seeing one's friends and family dying around you and not being able to stop it with the skills you possess will drive almost anyone, even a Jedi, into a state of rage, where they will reach out for anything that will help them stop the slaughter. The danger is that in reaching out like that, they often lose what it is about them that made them a good person. He's trying to get you addicted to the Dark Side so you have no choice but to turn."

Gareth shivered. "Are you annoyed with me though?" Damien considered this carefully before replying, "Not really, no. I am a bit disappointed that you chose to try and hide it from me but I can understand you hoping that it was just a dream and that it would disappear. Unfortunately I don't think this is one of those things that just disappear, I think you need to face it head on and beat it."

"How?" Gareth asked, feeling more and more desperate. He didn't want to turn, didn't want to give in to the Dark Side but he didn't know how to beat it. "How am I supposed to defeat someone who can use my worst fears against me?"

"By facing and defeating those fears" Damien answered calmly. "And I'll be there to help you do it. The first thing is letting go of that anger and aggression you're carrying around inside you. I know it's difficult for you to release your emotions but it's necessary if you're going to beat this. The second part is to not give in. Dreams are just that Gareth, dreams. If you die in them then it doesn't mean that you die in reality. Maybe the key to beating this lies in mastering your emotions and not being afraid to die when faced with an overwhelming force arrayed against you."

Gareth nodded, feeling silly. Damien looked at him and then rose from the couch. "I'll call your instructors and tell them that we have a problem that needs sorting out and you won't be in today. Tamsin or Leia will drop off the notes for your classes I'm sure."

Gareth nodded and watched as Damien made the calls. All the instructors were understanding and told Damien to keep Gareth at home as long as he needed in order to recover from whatever was wrong.

"How about we start with some meditation to relax and get things in perspective" Damien suggested, leading Gareth over to the meditation area in the middle of the room. Breathing slowly and evenly, the pair settled down opposite each other and began to unravel the mess that Gareth had got himself into.

In the Sith temple, Exar Kun growled to himself. He got the boy nice and hooked on the Dark Side and now that boy's pesky master was undoing all his hard work! It just wasn't fair!

'More work is needed. I need to get him to stop being so squeamish. Maybe a test where only using the Dark Side can save his friends. Yes that would work.' As Gareth and Damien unraveled the tangle of Darkness inside Gareth, Exar Kun was busy plotting to turn that tangle into an ocean.

Meanwhile, on the Rebellion front, the war was going well. More and more star systems were joining the Rebellion as the Empire tightened its grip on the galaxy. Harry was just making his way to the Council chamber for a briefing when Tahl ran up to him.

"We have a problem" she gasped out, breathless from running at top speed through the Temple. Harry jogged back to the Intelligence Division with her, where there was a Holonet receiver showing the devastation on Alderaan as the Empire had decided to test a new biological weapon on the planet. The whole surface of the planet was rapidly becoming contaminated and thousands of citizens had died. A message was playing out on the screen.

IF POTTER AND SKYWALKER DO NOT SURRENDER TO IMPERIAL FORCES WITHIN 28 DAYS OF THIS MESSAGE, THEN MORE SYSTEMS WILL SUFFER THE SAME FATE AS ALDERAAN.

"Oh bugger" Harry muttered. "He'll turn the entire neutral population of the galaxy against us. They'll see me and Anakin as the cause of Alderaan's trouble and will be working to capture us so their system will be spared that fate. I wonder what that weapon is anyway."

Tahl shook her head. "I'm not sure but whatever it is its nasty."

Harry frowned. "I wonder, if we could find the source of the contaminant, could we neutralize it and then let the people know that it was yet another shining example of our dictator's cruelty? It might actually convince more to join us."

"We'll get to work on it straight away" Tahl promised as Harry ran for the mission briefing that he'd been called away from. When he stepped into the Council chamber he noticed Obi-Wan, Leia and Luke waiting for him.

"Sorry everyone, Tahl wanted to show me something" he apologised. The Council members nodded. "No harm done Harry. Would we be correct in assuming that it was the disaster on Alderaan and the Emperor's ultimatum?"

Harry nodded tersely. "What's the mission you want us to go on?" he asked, not wanting to think of the possible fate of his friend, Senator Bail Organa. The Council members seemed to stiffen and Harry exchanged a look with Obi-Wan. Whatever it was, it had the Council members acting very odd.

"We want the four of you to investigate the source of this contaminant and destroy it. We can't allow you and Anakin to be handed over to the Imperials, and we also don't want the galaxy destroyed because the Emperor has an unhealthy obsession with the two of you."

Harry chuckled before replying, "Hmm, that's a rather disturbing thing to imagine Master Windu." The Council all chuckled as well; Mace had deliberately added that last comment to lighten things up a bit."

"Are you sure we should be taking our apprentices along with us?" Obi-Wan queried. Luke and Leia stiffened and shot glares at him. The Council looked at him and then Mace turned to Harry.

"What is your opinion Master Potter?"

Harry could feel Leia's emotions fluctuating between annoyance that she might be left behind, and hope that he would take their side. He sent a quick message down the bond which stated, _Quiet down. I'm not leaving you behind._

"I believe that they are old enough and mature enough to handle something like this Masters. I can't speak for Master Kenobi but I will be taking my Padawan with me."

Obi-Wan looked at Harry and then looked at Luke, before saying, "I was not saying that I wouldn't take Luke with me. I was merely questioning the wisdom of having them along on a mission that could be potentially deadly. We don't know how this contaminant is produced or distributed."

"Then we wear Biohazard suits. They'll be fine" Harry said. Obi-Wan nodded. The Council, seeing that the two had finished their mini-argument gave them the rest of the mission particulars and sent them on their way.

While Harry, Leia, Obi-Wan and Luke were going back to Alderaan, Anakin and Tamsin were outside training. Tamsin was turning into a capable Jedi Padawan but she still had a way to go before she would be a Knight. Still, Anakin was very proud of her and told her so. Not many fifteen and a half year olds were at the level that she and the rest of the quartet were at. Then again, although all Tamsin's yearmates were at approximately the same level, there was a range of abilities in the different subjects with each Padawan having different strengths and weaknesses.

Just as Tamsin finished the final movement of the 18th kata, she staggered as a wave of Darkness hit her. Anakin steadied her and then turned his head from one side to the other, trying to pinpoint the surge of Darkness. Finding nothing out of the ordinary in the immediate vicinity he led Tamsin indoors, hoping to figure out what the surge had been about.

The surge was the manifestation of Exar Kun's annoyance at the fact that Gareth had almost completely eradicated the Darkness inside him. He hadn't got rid of it completely but it was reduced enough that the Sith Lord would have to almost start from scratch. Fuming, Exar Kun closed his eyes and drifted back inside the altar, needing to rest and recover his strength. He needed some way of getting the Padawan to mistrust his master. It would make the whole job a lot easier.

On Alderaan, Luke, Leia, Obi-Wan and Harry were preparing to disembark their ship. They were carrying identification that proclaimed them to be part of the investigation crew, and after a cursory check, the Imperial guard waved the four Jedi dressed in Biohazard suits through the checkpoint. The suits prevented facial identification so Harry and Leia didn't need any sort of disguise which was good for them.

As the Jedi walked the streets of the main city they saw the devastation of the biological weapon up close. People were dying, the water, soil and food was contaminated. Everything was dying. The two Padawans shivered, even knowing the evil that Palpatine was capable of, it still didn't prepare them for the devastation they were seeing.

"What do you think it is?" Obi-Wan asked quietly. Harry shrugged, struggling to wrap his mind round the scale of the disaster.

"I don't know but whatever it is we'd best discover what it is, how it's transmitted and how to prevent people from being infected as fast as possible" he replied in a hushed tone. Obi-Wan nodded, the suit he was wearing making the movement look exaggerated and slow.

"Where to start though?" he asked, gesturing to the panic that was barely being contained around them. People were running everywhere, the hospitals were overflowing, and the stench of death was already hanging in the air.

"It's fast acting, whatever it is" Leia murmured, coming up behind the two Masters. Harry turned and gave a slow nod of agreement. "I agree, however we need to stay focused. You and your brother collect samples of everything you can think of please, soil, water, that type of thing. Obi-Wan and I will handle any samples from the populace. Get moving."

The Jedi split up into their pairs, with Luke and Leia getting environmental samples from a wide range of areas. Obi-Wan and Harry swiftly moved among the citizens, collecting samples from them for analysis. Once the samples were collected they met up in the lab that had been set aside for their use and tested the samples thoroughly.

"I don't understand it" Harry whispered several hours later. The contaminant seemed to be some sort of virus that was capable of mutating at a high rate and was also quite happy jumping from species to species at a very fast rate. Shaking his head, Harry sealed the last specimen and put it in the pile of tested samples.

"We need to contact our superiors" he said to the Imperial who merely looked bored and waved him onto their ship. Harry walked on board and checked he was secure before calling the Council on their urgent line.

"We have a major problem" he said bluntly when Yoda answered, and proceeded to outline the scale of what they were dealing with. Yoda's ears drooped a bit when he heard the news but promised to speak with the Council immediately.

When Harry received a call back on his private comlink half an hour later he hissed sharply when he heard the decision. Bowing his head he promised to pass on the news and cut the connection.

"Well, what did they say?" Obi-Wan asked. Harry faced him and then said, "We have to leave as soon as possible. When we get back, we have to spend the next month in quarantine to discover if we're carrying the virus on us. I understand why they want that but this virus is so fast acting that if we caught it we'd be dead before we reached Yavin. As of when we leave, the entire Alderaan system will be under quarantine. No one enters and no one leaves. There isn't anything we can do for the people here. It's too large a problem for us to handle, especially since the government caused the problem."

"So, we just leave and all these people, not to mention most of the planet's wildlife die?" Leia asked in disbelief. Harry just looked at her and she backed up a step, shocked.

"But, we can't, we're supposed to help people" she said, struggling to grasp the concept that they were expected to fly away and leave the people of Alderaan to die. Harry wrapped her in a hug and gently said, "There's nothing we can do Leia. If we stay we'll eventually catch it as well and die. We can't come up with a cure for this; it mutates too fast and spreads too rapidly. We need to trace this back to its source though, and destroy it."

As Leia nodded, Obi-Wan came over, having finished interrogating the Imperial guard. "He says that the main source is in a lab on Coruscant. The virus was transported here in special containers and then released into the environment and the water supply. It didn't take long to take effect."

"Well we need to destroy the main source. Did he say exactly where the lab is?" Harry muttered. Obi-Wan nodded.

"Yes he did. It's in one of the research labs close to the Imperial Senate building. Lots of security, very difficult to get into. What do we do now?"

Harry grinned. "Now we get off this death trap, and we return back home. A shower, a check at the infirmary to confirm we don't have this virus, and then you and I, Obi-Wan are going to Coruscant."

The four Jedi swiftly left Alderaan, and followed Harry's plan to the letter. Luke and Leia weren't happy at being left behind for the second part of the mission but understood that it didn't take four people to burn down a building. Harry had taken a few little inventions of Fred and George with him, and had a lot of fun throwing them round the building. They were little jars of super hot fireworks, designed to burn hot for a long time and be impossible to put out until they ran out of fuel. The fireworks helped to start the blaze and then the building itself provided a large amount of fuel.

"Wish we had marshmallows" Obi-Wan murmured as he watched the blaze. Harry chuckled. "I don't. That blaze, hot though it is, is burning up a supply of deadly virus, I don't want to risk that I'd get toasted virus on my marshmallow."

Laughing softly, the two Jedi returned home to Yavin, leaving the building burning merrily, much to the consternation of several teams of firefighters who couldn't understand why the fire refused to be put out.

Back on Yavin, Gareth was once again entangled in a dream battle. This time he faced the invaders and fought as hard as he could but when it became clear that he was going to die he accepted it and didn't reach for the Dark Side to help him. He was just beginning to think that he could do it, that he could beat this dream when it changed again.

_Gareth and Damien were on a planet that Gareth recognized from one of the missions that he and Damien had been on.. They were running for their ship, with enemies hot on their tail. Gareth stumbled and fell, but Damien kept running, not looking back._

"_Master!" Gareth yelled, unable to believe that Damien was leaving him to die. Damien either didn't hear him or didn't want to, because he reached the ship and took off, leaving Gareth behind._

"_This isn't real" Gareth snarled to the environment around him. There was silence for a moment before a laugh became audible._

"_Oh isn't it? I thought that it was one of your memories?"_

_Gareth growled as Exar Kun materialized out of nowhere in front of him and offered him a hand up. Ignoring the Sith Lord, the Padawan stood on his own and wrapped his robe around him._

"_I made it onto the ship in reality" he growled. Exar Kun raised an eyebrow._

"_Really. How fortunate. Do you honestly think that your master would have waited for you had you fallen behind though? All I did with this dream was show you what would have happened had you not been able to keep up with him."_

_Gareth shook his head, angry. "No. The Jedi don't leave each other behind."_

"_Yet they put the missions they go on above their own lives and those of their Padawans. You don't have to put up with it you know."_

"_My master would NEVER leave me behind on a mission" Gareth snarled."_

_Exar Kun smiled. "Perhaps. I'll see you again soon my young apprentice."_

_The dream state vanished as Gareth woke up._

Hurriedly getting out of bed Gareth ran for the toilet where he spent several minutes vomiting. He knew that Kun was lying, he had to be. But the Sith had achieved his objective, he'd caused Gareth to doubt, for a moment, Damien's commitment to him. As well as that, he caused the well of Darkness inside the Padawan to increase once more, and this time, the Sith didn't intend to let Gareth get rid of it.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: Feuds and Tragedy**

Harry was outside the Temple with Leia, stretching in preparation for their sparring match against Obi-Wan and Luke. Anakin and Tamsin were in the Infirmary, as Tamsin had broken her leg while attempting an aerial movement from the 20th kata while Damien and Gareth were busy helping Fred and George with pranking the Empire.

Once the stretches were done both pairs lined up at opposite ends of the clearing that was used for sparring. There was no official referee for the match, as both Obi-Wan and Harry were more than experienced enough to know how far to let things go before calling a halt.

At the same time four blades hissed to life, as Harry and Leia were using only one half of their lightstaffs. At another prearranged signal the four Jedi leapt into the fight. Harry tackled Obi-Wan while Leia tackled Luke. There was confusion for the first few minutes until the two Masters and the two Padawans retreated to opposite sides of the clearing.

Any observer that was watching would have noticed a very odd thing about the match. Luke and Leia were sparring as normal, and both were fairly evenly matched. Obi-Wan and Harry however, seemed to be only going through the motions and were watching their Padawans more than fighting each other. This inattention got both of them wounded when they accidentally hit each other simultaneously in opposite shoulders after failing to block the other's strike.

After about five minutes Harry and Obi-Wan mutually agreed to stop their match in favor of watching Luke and Leia. Both Padawans, who had achieved the rank of Senior Padawan, along with Tamsin, at the unprecedented age of 16, were cautious about fighting each other. It was hard for them to spar together as not only were they able to use the Force to predict each other's movements, but the bond that they shared as twins gave them added warning as well. Thus, neither could really break through until Leia scored a lucky hit on Luke's left leg. This broke Luke's concentration enough for Leia to disarm him.

Harry and Obi-Wan shared a look and then stepped forward, ending the match. As they walked indoors again they dissected the match, complimenting and critiquing at the same time. Luke and Leia were amused when they discovered that their masters' injuries were due to their inattention during their own match, which had Harry and Obi-Wan enduring some good natured teasing about taking their own advice about paying attention to their surroundings.

"Hey Master, have you noticed something odd about Gareth lately?" Leia asked as she and Harry returned to their quarters to freshen up after the match. Harry looked at her and frowned thoughtfully.

"I haven't noticed anything specific but you'd be in a position to notice more than me anyway. What's got you worried?"

Leia flopped down on the couch and sighed. Finally she looked at Harry, before saying, "I don't know. It's nothing specific, it's just a feeling."

"Bad?" Harry queried. Leia shrugged.

"I don't know. I just have this feeling that something bad is going to happen, and it's centered on Gareth."

Harry closed his eyes for a second before opening them and fixing Leia with a penetrating stare. She met his eyes squarely, refusing to back down. After a couple of minutes Harry smiled.

"Would you allow me to see your memories of the time you've spent with Gareth over the last couple of weeks? I might be able to get a sense of what's going on if I could see it for myself."

Leia nodded immediately. She and Harry had done this several times so she wasn't worried about letting him in. She lowered her shields and immediately felt Harry's mental presence settle lightly in her mind. Calling up the memories of her and Gareth over the requested time period she felt Harry examine them and then he withdrew.

"I don't know what's going on but I'll keep an eye on him as much as I can" Harry commented finally. Leia nodded and then he added, "I won't be able to do much about it if there is anything wrong Padawan. If there is then all I can reasonably do is bring it to Damien's attention and let him figure it out."

Leia nodded again and then hugged him impulsively. Harry blinked at the sudden affection but hugged her back anyway. He was all too aware that such moments were becoming rarer and thus, didn't object when Leia wanted to hug him.

As it turned out, Damien was well aware of the Darkness that refused to let his Padawan go. He'd watched over the months as Gareth fought the Darkness that wanted him, and had helped whenever Gareth asked for it. He couldn't help but think that it was a losing battle though, and despite all he was doing, he knew that there would come a time when Gareth could no longer fight, and would surrender to the Dark. When that time came it would be Damien's duty to either try one last time to bring him back, or he would have to kill his Padawan. Sick at this knowledge, Damien sought out the one person that would know what he was feeling like.

Harry looked up at the knock on his door one night, confused. Most of the Temple was asleep; he had thought that he'd be one of only a few still awake. Opening the door he took in Damien's sleep-deprived look and ushered him in.

"What's wrong Damien?" he asked. Damien shook his head.

"How did you feel when Anakin turned to the Dark?" he asked bluntly. Harry sat back in his chair, stunned. Of all the questions Damien could have asked, that one would be at the very bottom of the questions Harry would have considered.

"Terrible" he finally answered. "Why do you ask?"

Damien looked at Harry and the elder Master was shocked to see a look of complete helplessness in his former Padawan's eyes. "I ask because for the past few months the spirit of Exar Kun which is "living" in the altar in that Temple in the forest has been influencing Gareth, and gradually trying to turn him to the Dark Side. I have been helping Gareth as much as possible but Kun has been steadily turning him against me. He's been delving into Gareth's memories and changing little details to make it seem like I can't be trusted."

"Does Gareth believe these dreams?"

"He doesn't want to but Kun is very convincing. I think he is starting to believe them, at least a little bit. I don't know what else I can do."

Harry leant back and closed his eyes. This situation was troubling. He knew what Damien was most upset about – the fact that if Gareth turned, it would be Damien's job to kill him. No Master liked to consider that possibility. There had been a few cases where it had happened, and in each case it took the Master a while to recover and consider taking another Padawan. One of them had never taken another, too traumatized by what he considered his failure, and a few years later he had died on a mission. Harry refused to let that happen to Damien.

"Damien. If Gareth turns it will not be your fault. It will be Exar Kun's fault, you do know that don't you?"

Damien nodded slowly. "Yes but it's so hard to believe. I mean, I can sense the good in Gareth, but also a Darkness that will take over sometime in the near future."

Harry grimaced but nodded in agreement. "It is, I agree. But maybe there's something we can do, like destroying that Temple."

Damien looked up, with an expression of hope. "You think so?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know, but it makes sense that if the source is destroyed, then we can bring Gareth back."

"Then let's go do it then" Damien declared, standing up and eager to get to work. Harry shook his head and pulled him back down. "It's the middle of the night, get some rest and we'll do it tomorrow."

Harry and Damien were going to destroy the Sith Temple after breakfast when they were distracted. That distraction was a meeting with Ron, Hermione, Draco, Severus and Minerva. They were walking down a corridor when Darren came walking up to them with a sneer on his face.

"Stay alert it's the idiot" Harry muttered. There were muffled chuckles from his friends at that. Darren walked up to them and stopped.

"Hello Potter."

Harry blinked and then replied, "Hello Darren. Is there something you wanted?"

Darren smirked. "Yes actually. I wanted to know if I could borrow your wife."

Now Harry was confused. "Borrow Ginny for what? You're not injured as far as I can see."

Darren smirked. "Well, I have it on good authority that now that you've become Master to Skywalker's daughter that you and Ginny don't sleep together anymore. I wonder why that is?"

Everyone there caught the insinuation that Darren was making and there was a fierce growl from the whole group. Finally Harry controlled his anger and hissed "That is disgusting Mikal! I would never do what you're suggesting! For your information, Ginny and I DO sleep together! Just go away, or better yet, go to the mind healers and get that sick mind of yours looked at!"

He shoved past Darren and walked down the corridor followed by the rest of his friends. They had almost reached the end when Darren called out, "Are you sure Potter? I mean, if you don't like girls, then maybe you were sleeping with Anakin, or even Damien. It would be terrible if that rumor got round the Temple."

The group stopped dead and there was silence for a moment. The Earth group shivered as they sensed Harry's magic growing. Damien could feel Harry's temper straining to be released from the iron cast restraints that Harry had on it and shuddered as well. He had never felt Harry so angry before.

Finally Harry turned round and began walking towards Darren. Each step he took he released more of his magic, and his aura flared brightly around him. His eyes were glowing the color of death and he looked utterly furious.

Darren gulped as Harry stalked towards him, and began to have second thoughts about the wisdom of provoking the second most powerful Jedi in the Order. Before he could consider walking away, Harry reached him. Without stopping to talk, Harry punched Darren in the face.

"Never insult my family like that again" he snapped before turning to go back to his friends. He was halfway there when Darren tackled him. Harry rolled as he hit the ground and began wrestling with his rival.

A few minutes later Temple security came running up and separated the two. Harry was pushed in the direction of his friends while Darren was sent off in the opposite direction. Absently, Harry fixed his broken nose and black eye but said nothing about the fight beyond, "No one insults my family and gets away with it." His friends looked at each other, and Draco in particular was very glad that he'd never provoked Harry like that at Hogwarts. There would hardly have been anything left of him.

That fight resulted in both Harry and Darren being reprimanded by the Council and having other Jedi following them around for a week, making sure that they didn't create any more problems. Harry was told to keep his temper under control while Darren was told to stop insulting other members of the Jedi Order and stay as far away from Harry as possible.

Four weeks after that, Ron, Hermione, Snape and Draco met up with Tamsin, Luke, Leia and Gareth for an exploration in the forest. They all headed off with Gareth in the lead. About half an hour later they came to the clearing where the Sith Temple was. Harry and Damien hadn't had a chance to destroy it as they'd been kept busy with various missions that the Council had given them. Even when they'd told the Council why it needed to be destroyed, the Council had told them that Gareth could surely hold on a bit longer and that it wasn't vitally important in the scheme of things. This frustrated Harry and Damien to no end but they couldn't do anything about it.

Tamsin stared at the Temple and then turned to Gareth. "Why did you bring us here, you know that this area is off limits" she snapped. Gareth shrugged.

"We're here because I want to be here. And you seven are not leaving until I'm finished. Get inside." His tone had changed, becoming cold and menacing. Snape looked at him and then coldly said, "What makes you think that we're going to comply with what you just said?"

Gareth looked back at him and then replied equally coolly, "Because if you don't then I'll do a lot worse than this." He then lunged, grabbed Tamsin round the throat and then slashed her leg with his lightsaber. The wound wouldn't cripple Tamsin but it was exceedingly painful and would slow her down if it came to a fight. His move had been so quick and so unexpected that Tamsin had been hurt and then released before she could even defend herself. The four from Earth looked horrified at the nasty wound while Tamsin herself merely glared at Gareth and concentrated on blocking the pain with the Force and attempting to start healing the wound. Luke and Leia stepped up on either side of her and supported her while the group moved uneasily and slowly inside the Sith Temple.

As they came within sight of the altar, Gareth became calmer and less edgy while the rest of them became more and more agitated. Tamsin, Luke and Leia shivered as they felt the Dark Side emanating from all around them as well as from Gareth. Ron, Hermione, Snape and Draco exchanged a glance. They didn't know everything that was happening around them but they could make an educated guess.

"Go sit over there" Gareth snapped, pointing to a spot along one of the walls near the altar. The Earth group as well as Tamsin went and sat but Luke and Leia remained standing.

"I don't know what you think you're up to Gareth but you have to stop it now. We're not supposed to be here, let's go home" Leia said reasonably. Gareth scowled at her.

"I am home" he replied chillingly before lashing out with the Force. Leia was thrown backwards towards the wall at high speed. Only a quick cushioning charm from Hermione saved her from being knocked out completely. As it was she was disoriented and a bit dizzy from the abrupt stop.

Luke glared at Gareth before he drew and activated his lightsaber. "This stops now Gareth. We're leaving, and you can't stop us" he said with a confidence he didn't truly feel.

Gareth smirked. "Oh can't I?" He drew on the Dark Side of the Force, using it to cloud Luke's perceptions and then attacked with his own lightsaber. Forced to fight, Luke held his own until Gareth got inside his guard and gave him a deep wound across his chest. It wasn't deep enough to be fatal, but deep enough to keep him out of the rest of the fight.

Gareth smiled and advanced on Leia, who had risen and gone to the defence of her brother. She held her lightsaber in a defensive position as the two fought back and forth, neither aware of their audience who were watching the fight keenly. Tamsin was struggling to get up and help her friend while the Earth group was in awe of the skill on display even though they knew that Gareth was now officially an enemy.

Leia stumbled then and went down. Gareth stood over her and was just about to deliver a death stroke when his blade was blocked by Tamsin's. Gareth turned to face his new opponent, leaving Leia on the floor. Tamsin fought skillfully, always searching for an opening, however tiny that she could use to beat Gareth. She ignored the Force which was still clouded by the Dark Side and relied on her magic to guide her. Hermione had cast a quick numbing charm on her leg, allowing her to fight without the pain from the injury distracting her.

This proved to be the winning edge as she got Gareth in the shoulder and he dropped his weapon. She stood over him, her blade at his throat as she said coldly, "You are under arrest Gareth. Let's go back to the Temple."

She drew a Force inhibiting collar out of her belt pouch and knelt to put it on Gareth. Just as she was about to place it round his neck the altar behind her exploded. She was thrown away from Gareth by the explosion, the collar crushed by debris. Leia was also thrown against the wall and all three Padawans, Luke, Leia and Tamsin landed in a semi-conscious heap near Ron. Tamsin now wouldn't be getting up again anytime soon; part of the debris had landed on her already injured leg, breaking it. Luke and Leia avoided any serious injuries from the debris but would need time to recover. The Earth group looked grimly at each other; their situation had just become much more serious. Snape and Ron fingered their wands as they internally debated the possibility of taking Gareth down. Before they could act though, Exar Kun decided to make himself known.

"Well Gareth, go and deal with them" the Sith Lord said coldly. Gareth rose from the floor and picked up his weapon. He was walking towards the three Padawans when he was Force shoved away from them.

Everyone's gazes were drawn towards the entrance where they saw a comforting sight. Harry, Anakin, Obi-Wan and Damien were standing in a loose semi-circle, with activated lightsabers. The look on their faces was anything but pleasant.

"Damien" Harry said calmly, stepping back and allowing Damien forward. Damien glanced round the room, and then at his Padawan. He knew that there was probably no hope that Gareth would come back but he had to try.

"Gareth, why are you doing this? You know this isn't the right path. Come back. We can deal with this. Whatever he's told you isn't true" he said, hoping that Gareth would listen to him. He took a couple more steps forward, now halfway between Gareth and the guard on the door. Gareth smirked, not saying anything. He had chosen the Dark Side three weeks ago and now considered himself a Sith. He let Damien get almost close enough to touch him before he acted.

Everyone in the room was shocked and sickened when Gareth lashed out at Damien, cutting a deep gash in the Knight's chest and then throwing him against the remains of the altar. By the choked gurgles coming from Damien, the watchers surmised that his lungs had been punctured. Gareth then jumped over to land beside Damien. Looking at the watching Jedi he smirked. "Goodbye Master" he sneered before stabbing his blade straight down. Damien's eyes widened as he stared at Gareth before his eyes closed and his body relaxed as he died. Tamsin, Luke and Leia all swallowed hard, fighting to keep their stomachs under control. What had just happened was unthinkable.

"That just sealed your fate" Harry growled. He released his hold on his magic and the Force. The Force swirled round him, aided and abetted by his magic. Anakin and Obi-Wan moved outwards, circling the room. The three Masters were trying to encircle the young Sith apprentice so he could be taken down. They had reckoned without Exar Kun however.

The ancient Sith Lord moved to protect his apprentice and he did it in style, letting a blast of Force lightning out that sent the three Jedi Masters flying. Obi-Wan crashed into Ron and Hermione, lying stunned for a moment before apologizing and getting up again. Anakin had been less fortunate, he had landed near Damien, his head slamming against a piece of rock protruding from the wall. He slumped into blissful unconsciousness a second later. Tamsin winced when she saw what happened to her master but through their bond she could feel that he was essentially OK, just unconscious. She and Leia then looked to see what had become of Harry, as they could see Obi-Wan moving to attack Exar Kun again.

Harry had been thrown a fair distance but hadn't crashed into anything. He turned his fall into a roll and jumped to his feet. Shaking off the shock he swiftly looked over at the group lying against the altar, checking to see if they were alright. Seeing signs of movement from everyone except Damien and Anakin he Force jumped over to them. He knelt by Damien's body and gently stroked an errant lock of hair back off his face. He knew his former Padawan was dead but he couldn't help it.

Opening his eyes again he growled as his gaze landed on Gareth. Logically, he knew that Exar Kun was the main source of the problem but Gareth had chosen to embrace the Dark. He would have been helped if he had chosen to remain Light but he hadn't. Now he had to face the consequences. He looked at Anakin and relaxed slightly when he was informed by Tamsin that her master was fine, just unconscious.

Getting up, Harry and Obi-Wan faced the ancient Sith Lord, calm determination in every movement of their bodies. Exar Kun laughed and sent out another burst of lightning, only to have the two Jedi catch it with their lightsaber blades. Obi-Wan disengaged his blade, leaving Harry to catch the full blast alone and tried attacking the spirit directly. He was shocked when his blade passed right through the Sith, not harming him in the slightest.

"Foolish Jedi. Did you really think that could harm me? I'm a spirit. No mortal weapons can harm me now."

"Yeah but this can" Harry growled, before releasing a surge of the Force, infused with a large amount of magic, all of it pure Light. Exar Kun howled as the Light reached him and fought back with Darkness. Obi-Wan backed away, and helped Leia to her feet. The Padawan then helped Ron, Draco, Snape and Hermione to their feet as well. Obi-Wan then knelt by Tamsin, splinting her leg in preparation for transport to the Infirmary later. Then he eased her into a healing trance to help her deal with the pain.

Luke and Anakin were still unconscious and Damien wasn't alive anymore so they weren't moving. All the conscious members of the group stared in awe as Harry and Exar Kun dueled with the Force, the two sides almost equally matched. Harry looked over at them and then smiled, seeming to draw strength from seeing their support for him. Looking at the Sith Lord he snarled and then threw all his strength into one last attack.

The Light surrounded Exar Kun but didn't totally destroy him. With an evil smile the Sith Lord tried to kill the exhausted Harry but was stopped by a shield of light. Everyone that was still conscious stared in disbelief at the doorway. The entire Jedi Council had seemingly been mobilized to help and it was Master Yoda who had shielded Harry from Exar Kun's attack.

Harry tiredly acknowledged their arrival with an "Oh good the cavalry's arrived." He then staggered slightly but seemed to draw strength from the Force as he remained standing. The Jedi Council moved to surround Harry and the spirit of Exar Kun who had been severely weakened by Harry's last attack. The Force emanated from all the Council members, causing a visible aura of light to surround them, almost too bright to look at. At some unspoken signal the light surrounding the Council members shot into Harry, and he lifted off the ground briefly, screaming in pain as his system overloaded from the amount of the Force that was flowing through him. Still, it served its purpose as the light was coalesced into a single bright beam that utterly annihilated the spirit of the Sith Lord.

With his destruction, Gareth collapsed to the ground alive but barely conscious. Harry also collapsed to the ground, and didn't move. Mace walked over to Gareth, hoping to find some reason to try and redeem him but Gareth proved him wrong.

With the last of his strength, Gareth attacked Harry with a blast of Dark energy which sent him crashing against the wall. Mace had dodged the attack but Harry was in no position to be able to do so. The Jedi Master had exhausted himself in the last attack against Exar Kun, not to mention what the Council had done only minutes later which was why Gareth was able to attack him so easily. The group gasped as Harry slid down the wall and lay unconscious, occasionally twitching due to the attack he'd just been subjected to. Leia ran to Harry, checking him frantically. Gareth was swiftly subdued by Obi-Wan and several other Council members. He was held immobile by the Force as well as having a Force inhibitor collar placed round his neck. Once he was trussed up as tight as possible, Obi-Wan turned to the state of his friend.

"Master Kenobi, we have to get to the Temple as fast as possible" Leia yelped when she finished checking Harry. At his raised eyebrow she snapped, "He's dying!"

That snapped everyone into action. Obi-Wan swiftly used the Portkey that had been devised and given to all Jedi which would immediately transport them to the infirmary if needed. He, Tamsin and Harry disappeared to the Infirmary, where he delivered Harry and Tamsin into the capable hands of the Healers before returning to the Sith Temple.

He found Ron, Hermione, Snape and Draco helping to transport Luke, Anakin and Damien out of the Temple. Mace and Siri Tachi, a new member of the Council were guarding Gareth, although they weren't too concerned with stopping the flow of insults that Leia was sending Gareth's way.

"Let's go home" Obi-Wan said tiredly. It was a strange procession that followed him out of the Temple, Obi-Wan carrying Damien, while Leia and Hermione were levitating Luke and Anakin. Gareth was being guarded by Mace and Siri while Snape and Ron brought up the rear. The rest of the Council members were surrounding them, providing a guard. Yoda was riding on Obi-Wan's back, directing him along the fastest route back to the Jedi Temple.

When they got back Anakin and Luke were transported to the Infirmary for treatment. Yoda, Mace and Obi-Wan went with them as they wanted to hear any news of Harry.

"How is Harry?" Obi-Wan asked urgently as soon as Luke and Anakin had been settled into beds and their treatment started. Lily looked at him and then shook her head. "He's not doing well Obi-Wan. We've got him stabilized but he's in a coma. He's magically exhausted, and his reserves are very low. We don't know if he'll wake up. He's already almost died once while we were trying to stabilize him."

Lily then broke down and Obi-Wan wrapped his arms round her, holding her as she cried. Leia came in at that moment and misinterpreted it. "Is, is Master Harry dead? The bond didn't break though."

Lily dried her eyes and shook her head. "He's still alive Leia but only just. That last attack severely weakened him, I don't know what happened but it hurt him badly. We've managed to stabilize him but he's in a coma. We just have to wait and see if he wakes up."

"Not IF he wakes up. WHEN he wakes up" Leia said fiercely before her composure left her as well. Obi-Wan pulled her into a hug as well. "What about Tamsin, Luke and Anakin?" he enquired softly.

"They'll be fine; they're just in for observation. They should wake up in a few hours. We've healed Luke and Tamsin and they're currently asleep due to the healing. Anakin is still unconscious but he should wake up on his own soon" Ginny said, coming out of the room where Harry was being kept. She joined in on the hug and Leia clung to her tightly.

Mace and Yoda left after that. They needed to consider the implications of what had happened that day and decide what to do. Harry's severe injuries troubled them as well, he was a valued member of the Jedi Order and one of the Rebellion leaders, no matter if he recognized that or not. If he were to die it would be devastating. The Jedi Order had already lost two members today, one to Darkness, the other to the Force, and they couldn't afford to lose another.

When they separated, they went to different locations. Obi-Wan was looking after Leia while Harry was out of action, and Ginny was refusing to sleep in her and Harry's quarters, claiming that she didn't want to sleep alone. She had set up a cot in the corner of Harry's room in the Infirmary and no one could budge her.

When he reached his quarters with Leia in tow, Obi-Wan found Hermione, Ron, Draco, Severus and Minerva waiting for him. He flopped down on the couch and sighed. "I imagine you want to know what's going on with Harry."

Nods from his audience proved him right and he quickly gave an explanation. When he was finished, they looked a bit sick but then they recovered. Looking at the Jedi Master, Ron said confidently, "He's Harry, he'll recover. You'll see."

Draco nodded in support of Ron's statement before he asked, "What's going to happen to Gareth?"

Obi-Wan scowled. "There are only two options for the Council to consider when it comes to Gareth. He killed his master, severely injured another Jedi and turned to the Dark Side. Not to mention he endangered you four as well. The Council has to decide whether they can afford to leave him alive or not. If they decide he's not a huge threat then they'll just expel him from the Order, remove any knowledge of our location and send him away. If they decide that he is too great a threat then they will pass down a death sentence and Gareth will be executed via lethal injection."

"So it's a choice between expulsion and death then" Snape summed up. Obi-Wan nodded tersely. "What decision do you think they'll choose?"

Obi-Wan closed his eyes briefly and then opened them. "I believe that they'll choose the latter option. We might have destroyed one Sith Lord but there is still another out there that would love to have Gareth on his side. We can't really afford to let him live. I know it's a horrible thing to say, he is only 17 but the facts have to be faced. He's a threat to us and to himself as well. It's better that we deal with him now rather than leaving him alive to become an even worse threat later on."

"So you agree with the idea of killing someone who isn't even an adult yet?" Minerva spluttered. Obi-Wan fixed her with a penetrating stare. "Yes I do. It's not something I like to consider, and I would love to say that we don't have to do it, but in this case we do have to. It's a case of killing one in order to save many. None of us like it, but it is necessary in certain cases. This is one of them. Do you not have a worse punishment than death? At least Gareth will simply go to sleep and not wake up. That to me is far better than having your soul sucked out and then having your body suffer for weeks afterwards as it slowly dies."

None of the Earth group could come up with an answer to that and conceded the point. Just then Leia stiffened and her eyes rolled back in her head. "Harry" she cried out, just before she fell unconscious.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven: Aftermath**

Leia was unconscious for about a minute and then groggily opened her eyes again. Obi-Wan called the infirmary and what he heard almost made his heart stop. It appeared that for the minute that Leia was unconscious Harry had also been very close to death, until the healers had managed to pull him back to life.

He relayed this news to his companions and was almost knocked over as a stampede occurred, led by Minerva, Ron and Hermione as they headed for the infirmary. Draco and Snape headed there too but at a more sedate pace.

"Is he OK?" Hermione asked. One of the other Healers looked at her before shaking his head in exasperation. "I don't know. He appears to be OK, his vital functions are now stable but he's still in a coma. However, he was nearly dead there for a minute so we don't know what's going to happen!

Snape huffed before saying, "Well Potter's never been one to do things by halves, it figures that he'd probably find some way to die and then come back just to irritate us."

As the healer regarded him with some annoyance the rest of the Earth group tried to hide their smiles. That was Snape's way of saying that he was just as relieved as any of them only he didn't want to acknowledge it.

Just then the alarms began shrieking once more and the Healers turned their attention to saving Harry's life once more. Lily and Ginny were politely but insistently pushed out the door along with the rest of the Earth group as well as several Jedi who had come to see how Harry was doing.

A few minutes later the alarms stopped blaring and Harry's vital signs stabilized once more, giving relief to everyone that was waiting. Tamsin and Luke had joined them, having woken earlier. Anakin was still asleep though.

"How's Dad?" Tamsin asked. Ginny pulled her into a hug.

"He'll pull through. He has to" she said, although her words were lacking in conviction. Harry's injuries were healing, although slowly, and he was still too weak right now to handle being put in a bacta tank which would have speeded the healing process remarkably.

Just then there was a burst of phoenix song as Fawkes appeared in Harry's room, startling the healers immensely. Just as they were about to shoo him from the room, Fawkes alighted on Harry's chest and began to sing, while also crying onto the Jedi's wounds.

Before their eyes, the wounds closed and healed. Harry then coughed and choked, struggling to breathe through damaged lungs and other internal injuries. Fawkes tilted his head to one side and then took advantage of the fact that Harry's mouth was open. Several minutes passed while the brilliantly colored phoenix cried into Harry's mouth and Harry, acting on reflex swallowed the tears. After another few tense minutes his breathing eased as the tears absorbed into his body and partially fixed the injuries so they weren't so life threatening.

"Well I'll be damned" one of the younger healers whispered. "His injuries aren't fully healed yet but we can put him in a bacta tank now." Harry was swiftly readied and then lowered into the tank, with a breathing mask on so he could still breathe.

"He's going to be horribly annoyed when he wakes up" Leia murmured. Seeing confusion on the faces around her she grinned before saying "He hates being in small spaces like that. He's not quite claustrophobic but he doesn't like being surrounded by bacta. For all its healing properties, it's quite cold and can feel slimy when you're submerged in it. It's a bit like waking to find that you're covered in jelly."

The rest of the group now wore slightly disgusted expressions but they couldn't deny the usefulness of the substance. When it appeared that there was going to be no more news about Harry for at least the rest of the day, they dispersed. Tamsin went back home with Anakin who had now woken up and been cleared to leave, while Leia left with Obi-Wan again. Ginny headed to the dining hall for a quick meal and then returned directly to the infirmary. When she got there she was startled to see both Minerva and Fawkes silently watching Harry floating in the bacta tank. He was wearing his underclothes for decency but otherwise was wearing nothing. It helped if the bacta could reach the injuries directly.

"He seems so fragile" Minerva said softly. Fawkes trilled soothingly and the witch rubbed his head in thanks. Ginny sat down beside her and laid a hand on her arm.

"I've seen him in bad shape before. Granted this time was more severe than most but Ron's right. He'll pull through, thanks to the healers and of course, Fawkes."

Minerva nodded and then leant back into the chair she was seated in. "Will the Council really pass a death sentence on Gareth?" she queried. Ginny frowned.

"I'm not sure. It seems likely but Gareth isn't yet an adult by our standards and the rules regarding the death penalty are all aimed at adult members of the Order. He is only a year away from being covered under those rules but that year could very well save his life. He won't be allowed to remain a Jedi though, expulsion is pretty much guaranteed."

"I wouldn't have thought anything else" Minerva muttered. Silence fell for a few minutes before the elder witch continued. "Harry seems to be quite popular. I noticed several Jedi standing around watching during that earlier incident."

Ginny chuckled. "Yes he is. He has a lot of friends among the Masters and Knights. The initiates love him and so do the Padawans. He's extremely fair minded, and doesn't mind being asked questions at almost any time of the day or night. Any Padawan or Initiate that has a question or problem that they don't feel comfortable taking to their supervisor or master, well, they bring it to him. He's remarkably good at getting distressed younglings to calm down. He will also defend any of them; it's not only his own Padawans that benefit from his protective streak."

"Oh?"

Ginny smirked. "There was a case a few years ago, a mission had gone wrong and the Master had been affected badly by it. He tried to deal with the aftereffects on his own but couldn't. He ended up becoming violent, not by his own choice but because he couldn't help it. His Padawan ended up taking the brunt of those episodes, and finally came to Harry for help. When that Padawan came to us in the middle of the night, bruised and very afraid Harry got her settled with me and then guarded the bedroom door from the lounge."

"What happened?" Minerva was interested in the story, it was a sad one but obviously things had turned out alright.

"The master just about broke our door down and demanded that we return his apprentice. Harry just looked at him and then said "Not until you cool down." That precipitated a short fight which ended with Harry slamming the master into the wall and knocking him unconscious. Then he was transported to the infirmary where he woke up the next morning, and was basically forced to accept the help he needed."

"So what happened after that?"

"It took a while but both of them recovered and their relationship eventually became stronger because of it."

"So it wasn't abuse then?"

"No, it was the result of an unfortunate accident."

"So does our hero-for-hire protect Padawans when they've done something wrong?"

Ginny doubled over laughing at this question.

"Good heavens no! Heh, one Padawan tried that and Harry escorted them home, telling them that he wasn't there to shield them from taking responsibility for their actions."

Both witches shared a laugh at that and then their gazes fixed on Harry's room where a groan was heard from the tank. Ginny got up and approached Harry, smiling in relief when slightly unfocused green eyes locked on hers.

"Hi sleepyhead" she said. Harry mumbled something and then closed his eyes again. Ginny quickly checked his vitals. She was startled and annoyed to find that Harry had sunk back into the coma.

"Damn. I was sure he was going to wake up properly" she muttered. Minerva shook her head and went to the dining hall, feeling hungry all of a sudden.

In the end it took another three weeks for Harry's energy and magic reserves to build up enough for him to properly wake up again. There were a few more scares when his vitals dropped very low but he pulled through in the end. The day he finally woke up was a cause for celebration and Harry was very nearly crushed to death by overenthusiastic hugging. The healers had to threaten to ban all the well wishers from the infirmary to stop them from hugging their patient to death.

"So how is everyone?" Harry asked when the din had subsided. He frowned when he noticed that no one was meeting his eyes.

"I do remember the battle. Exar Kun is dead, and so," he swallowed hard, "so is Damien. What about everyone else?"

Obi-Wan finally answered. "Everyone else is OK Harry. The only other one that caused us some worry was you. You almost died several times and you've been asleep for the last three weeks while your energy reserves replenished themselves. Tamsin, Luke, Leia and Anakin are fine, as are the rest of us."

"What's being done about Gareth?" Harry queried. Obi-Wan scowled.

"Nothing as yet. He's being held in the detention cells underground for now, with minimal contact with others. He's not given us any hope for his redemption whatsoever and there is a general feeling among the Masters and Knights that he should be executed."

Everyone that was present, which included James, Lily, Severus, Draco, Minerva, Mace, Obi-Wan, Yoda and the Jedi Trio, which was what Leia, Luke and Tamsin had become known as were surprised at Harry's reaction to that bit of news.

"NO!" he growled, fighting to get up out of the bed. Lily and Ginny swiftly pushed him back down. He might have woken up but he would still need more time to recover his physical strength.

"Agree you do not Master Potter?" Yoda questioned, his ears indicating surprise. Harry shook his head vehemently.

"No I do not! The death penalty should only be applied to adult members of the Order, and Gareth is still a year away from adulthood. You can't kill him!"

"Why not Harry? He killed his master, damn near killed you and is a threat to everything we've built here. If he's allowed to live he could reveal all our secrets, not only of the Jedi but also the Rebellion. We can't allow that" Mace said quietly.

Harry stared at his former master in disbelief and then switched his gaze to Obi-Wan. "You two surely can't be supporting this. It's, its wrong!"

"Harry, we know your feelings about the death penalty but you can see our point can't you?" Obi-Wan tried, feeling that if he could get his friend's logical thought processes on track then Harry would come round to it, no matter how much he might protest against it.

Harry growled. "Yes I can see your point" he said grudgingly. "Please tell me it's going to at least be quick and painless."

Mace nodded. "Yes it will be. It will be by lethal injection Harry. Gareth will simply go to sleep and not wake up."

Harry nodded absently. His mind was already putting together an insane plan to save Gareth from the death that he probably deserved but that Harry couldn't in good conscience allow. Damien had had faith that Gareth could be redeemed and Harry would be damned if he allowed that faith to be destroyed by the Council.

"Damien believed that he could be redeemed" he stated finally. He looked up to see sad head shakes from around him. "Take a look into my memories Harry, you'll see for yourself what kind of person he is now" James said firmly. He knew his son, and knew that Harry was probably planning some insane stunt to save Gareth when in truth, he wasn't worth it.

Harry looked at him suspiciously before entering James' mind smoothly and gently. James pulled up the memories and Harry viewed them, much the same way as he'd done with Leia. When he pulled out he seemed almost broken in a way.

"Damien was wrong" he whispered. Just then Leia had an idea.

"Master, before this happened, Gareth was attracted to me, and I, well, I was starting to return those feelings. What if I talked to him? Maybe he would respond to me?"

Harry shook his head. "You can try Padawan but don't be surprised if it doesn't work. There are some things that love can't cure, even if it worked with your father."

Leia looked at him slyly and waited until he'd taken a sip of water before remarking, "I could always get pregnant with his child and then years from now they could do the redeeming."

Her timing was perfect, the water sprayed everywhere as Harry coughed and shook his head, desperately trying to convince himself that he hadn't heard what he thought he had.

"You will pay for that" he finally managed to splutter. The rest of the group was almost rolling on the floor in laughter, and Leia merely grinned, completely unapologetic.

"At least let me try Master" she continued only to squeak in pain as Yoda's stick made sharp contact with her shin. "Pay attention in class you did not, if forgot one of my most basic lessons you have" he snapped as Leia rubbed her shin and moved out of range. She looked very rueful as every Jedi in the vicinity said in chorus, "Do or do not, there is no try."

"Yeah yeah" she muttered. Standing up she looked round the room. "Anyone willing to escort me down to see Gareth?" she asked. Anakin stood to go with her. There was no way he was letting his daughter face a Sith alone, even if said Sith was in a Force dampened environment and couldn't move from his bed.

Fifteen minutes later a heartbroken Leia was led back upstairs. Anakin let go of her as soon as they reached the infirmary again and she went straight to Harry. Anakin felt a brief moment of jealousy as she hugged Harry, but then Tamsin hugged him and he saw an answering flare in Harry's eyes. Both of them then shrugged, their friendship was too strong to let this affect it and they didn't anyway. It was just a very emotional time and everyone was on edge.

"If you don't advocate killing him then do you have another proposal to neutralize the threat he poses to us?" Mace asked when Leia had unwound herself from Harry's embrace although she remained cuddled up to him. Padme had wrapped her arms round Anakin as she'd listened to the debate, having come to the Temple when she'd been informed of Harry's return to the land of the living.

"Actually I do" Harry said, frowning thoughtfully. He'd modified his first plan which had involved Obliviation and sending Gareth off planet, to something slightly more drastic and he didn't know how it would be received.

"Well what is it?" Snape demanded. Harry looked annoyed and snapped, "I'm thinking of the best way to present it, don't rush me!"

Gathering his thoughts he said, "How about this. We get him in here, restrained of course. Now, we knock him unconscious and Obliviate him of all knowledge pertaining to our location and plans. That includes any missions he's been on since the move to Yavin as well as any Rebellion secrets. Then we modify him a bit more to ensure that he can't be useful to Sidious and pack him on a ship headed to anywhere other than here."

"What do you mean by modification?" Obi-Wan asked suspiciously. Harry merely smiled grimly at him and replied, "Sidious can't give him further training in the Dark Side if he can't use the Force now can he."

Confusion reigned for a minute until a shocked gasp came from Mace. "Harry, you're talking about destroying his connection to the Force. That's, that's a good plan but also cruel as well. Leaving memories of being a Jedi and why he got expelled but removing his ability to use the Force?"

Harry shrugged. "It's more permanent than a collar and we could remove his memories of being a Jedi except that that would entail wiping basically his whole life. If we just left the memory of his expulsion from the Order and the consequences, would that be more acceptable."

Seeing that the witches and wizards looked confused Harry said, "Imagine being exiled from the wizarding world but then also being stripped of your magic, being turned into a muggle basically, in order to protect other witches and wizards from you." His audience shivered, and then Draco leaned forward.

"Can what you're proposing actually be done Harry?"

"Done it can be" Yoda confirmed, looking incredibly old as he said it. The tiny Jedi Master was in his 800's and looked every year of that right at that moment. "The Force flows in us and through us yes, but a section of our minds there is, which focuses the Force. Destroy this, and permanently lost our ability to harness the Force is."

Rather than wait for his friends to decipher Yoda's little speech Harry translated. "Basically it's like this. The Force is all around us and we can control it with our minds. In order to do this there is a small part of our brains which act as a focusing agent for the Force. If this part is destroyed, you can still feel the Force but you can't use it. It's like being a squib, the magic is there, you just can't use it."

Now his audience understood and they shivered once more. Mace and Yoda left, along with Obi-Wan. They would discuss this plan with the rest of the Council. Harry, as a Council member would be present via a holographic projector set up in the infirmary. After presenting his plan to the rest of the Council, it was debated on and then finally voted on. The Ayes were substantially more than the Nays so it was decided. The procedure would be carried out as soon as Harry was strong enough to move around on his own again.

It took another month before that time was reached. Harry had been put on a strict diet and exercise program designed to rebuild his strength and fitness, and he adhered to it faithfully. He wasn't allowed to spar but he could still instruct Leia from the sidelines, and her training was finally got back on track after the interruption it had suffered.

While he was recuperating, Harry had also caught up on news about the Rebellion's efforts against the Empire. They had caught wind of a new device that the Emperor was planning, called the Death Star. It was still in the planning stage so it was going to be a few years yet before anything could be done about it. Security surrounding it was impossible to crack so the Rebellion's spies merely kept a very close eye on it. The Rebel Alliance had lain low for the most part, gathering allies and creating spy networks inside the Empire. This was important, as they would need all the information they could get in order to pull off successful missions.

Finally the day arrived and Gareth was led into a sterile room in the infirmary. He was then knocked out with a generous application of the Force, and strapped to a bed. Then the Council as well as several mind healers rifled through his mind, destroying his Force connection completely. The young Sith then had all his memories of the Rebel Alliance plans and location, as well as his memories of the Jedi Temple's location removed as well. When the Council had finished, they withdrew and the healers checked that they hadn't destroyed any parts that were vital for continuing life, such as the autonomic functions like breathing. Gareth was then loaded onto a ship and taken to the spice mines on Kessel. It was essentially a death sentence, hardly anyone lasted more than a few years in the harsh environment.

With Gareth's departure, things settled down and the Jedi Order went back to normal. One morning Harry took the Marauder up for a spin and headed towards the Sith temple. He had loaded up his ship precisely for this purpose and upon receiving the all clear signal, he sent several proton torpedoes at the building before flying up and out of range. The building exploded in a fantastic display of fireworks, and the shockwave of said explosion shook the Marauder slightly; even though Harry had taken it up quite high. After the temple's destruction, the Council relaxed. There was still one Sith Lord out there but he would be dealt with in time, and at least there would be no more Dark Lords coming back from the dead to bother them in the future.

**Author Note**

**Hmm, now should I have Sidious discover some obscure piece of Dark Arts that can bring Voldie back or not? I think not grin**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve: The Death Star**

Leia lay back on her bed in the quarters she'd been assigned on the survey ship that was headed to Hoth. She was carrying the plans for the Empire's latest weapon, the Death Star, which was last reported to be hovering over Alderaan as the Empire was looking to test its weapons systems on the barren planet. The Rebellion wasn't all that interested in stopping it from doing so, the tests that the Imperials were doing would tell the Rebellion a lot about how powerful it was. The plans that she was carrying, liberated from an Imperial cruiser a few days earlier would give the Rebellion more hope of developing a plan to destroy the Death Star. She was just dropping off to sleep, thinking that in another few days she could meet back up with her master again when the ship shook violently as though it was struck by something, throwing her to the floor.

Getting off the floor she dressed hurriedly throwing her robe on over top of the standard Jedi uniform. It was dangerous, going out in public in Jedi uniform, with the Empire having put out a reward of five hundred thousand credits for any Jedi found. The largest rewards however, were offered for Leia's father, Anakin Skywalker, and her master Harry Potter at five million credits each.

Shaking her head, the Padawan raced to the bridge, needing to see what was going on. If the Empire had got wind of the plans going missing, then she was in danger.

"Padawan Skywalker, we're in trouble" the captain, Wedge Antilles said. He was a long time member of Bail's crew and liked the Skywalker family, as well as the Potter family. Leia looked behind them and saw the worst sight possible, an Imperial Star Destroyer and it was firing at them.

Wedge got the gunners firing back at the larger ship and set the engines to full speed as he tried to outrun it. It was a bold plan but ultimately futile as the Star Destroyer was too fast. A lucky hit knocked out their shields and another got their hyperdrive. Before they could try to repair it the Destroyer was on top of them and they were caught in its tractor beam. Slowly, the survey vessel was sucked into the belly of the ship and the crew captured and subdued. Leia stood with Wedge wondering what was going to happen.

'Thank goodness the plans were hidden in R2' she thought to herself. She'd given the plans to the little droid and sent him to Tatooine to meet Obi-Wan and Luke as they were being sucked into the Star Destroyer, so the Empire wouldn't get anything from either her or the crew. The crew didn't know her true mission, and she was trained to resist torture, even though she preferred more of a coordinator role rather than an active fighter role within the Rebellion.

Stormtroopers came towards them, their faces hidden by masks and their voices muffled. Leia shivered inwardly, they didn't seem like real people, all in the same uniform, referring to each other by numbers not names. She was reminded of the clones that the stormtrooper uniforms were based on, and the stories that the older Jedi in the Order had told of the Clone Wars which preceded the rise of the Empire and the destruction of the Republic. Looking along the line of troopers, she stiffened as a hooded figure walked towards them. Although hooded, she recognized the young woman underneath it immediately.

"Mara Jade" she said calmly as the figure drew even with her. The two young women eyed each other warily. Mara was known as the Emperor's Hand, his assassin and spy, his best information gatherer. A Force sensitive, Mara wasn't a Sith, nor a Dark Jedi. She used her Force sense to get information, using it for mind tricks and unlocking doors, things like that.

"Leia Skywalker" Mara replied, inwardly rejoicing. What a stroke of luck, to run into one of the Skywalker family. Her Master hadn't been very happy with the results of her last mission; hopefully capturing Anakin Skywalker's daughter would get her back in his good graces.

Leia met Mara's eyes, and then asked coolly, "What do you plan to do with us? We're a survey ship, headed for Hoth, you have no right to hold us like this, and you definitely had no right to fire on us."

Mara smirked and then said "On the contrary, I happen to know that the plans for the Empire's new weapon are aboard this ship, which means that you're not on a survey mission. It means that you are, in fact, part of the Rebel Alliance. I'm sure you know that being part of the Rebel Alliance automatically makes you a traitor."

Her smirk vanished and she got right in Leia's face as she snarled, "And traitors can be interrogated and killed without any official repercussions. You will be taken to the Death Star and interrogated there, before we go to see my Master, on Imperial City."

Leia smiled, looking calm, though inwardly she was anything but. Really, she wanted her master there with her, this was her first solo mission and it had turned into a disaster.

"I think you mean Coruscant" she replied, even as her wrists were bound in front of her in preparation for transport to the detention cells in the Death Star. She remained calm, through use of the Force as she was led to Mara's shuttle and shut in the cargo hold. Wedge Antilles was with her as well. As the shuttle door closed, Leia felt the Force shudder as the rest of the crew were executed without mercy by the stormtroopers.

As the shuttle jumped into hyperspace heading for the Death Star, Leia sent a message over her bond with Harry, hoping against hope that her master would hear it and come to help her.

_Master, I'm in trouble. Come to Alderaan. Death Star. Help._

Back on Yavin 4, the main headquarters for the Rebellion, as well as the home of the Jedi Order, Harry Potter sat upright in his chair, his eyes closed as he sought out the Force presence of his Padawan. He had found it a different experience, having a female Padawan, as opposed to a male. He remembered the short lived crush that Leia had developed on him and also remembered the time Anakin had told her to ask Harry about sex when the crush was at it's peak point. He'd almost choked to death as he was eating dinner at the time.

_Flashback _

"_Master, how do you know if it's the right time to have sex?" Leia had asked innocently._

_Harry's eyes widened and he blushed hotly before choking on his food. Getting himself under control, he asked, "Why do you want to know?"_

_Leia shrugged. "Because Dad said I should ask you. Am I old enough?"_

_Harry closed his eyes and silently cursed Anakin in several different languages for putting him in this situation. Opening his eyes, he managed to choke out, "No. Not until you're grown up."_

_Leia pouted. "Why not? I'm grown up now, I turned thirteen last month."_

_Harry groaned inwardly. "Leia," he began gently, "you are not yet an adult, you are still a child. You will be an adult when you turn 18, and that is still 5 years away. If you want to know about sex, may I suggest that you talk to your mother or Ginny? I'm not really the best person to ask."_

"_Why not Master?"_

_Harry groaned again and cursed Anakin even more. This was not a situation he was comfortable with. Tamsin had gone through the same stage only Ginny had managed to answer her questions and help steer her through. For some reason, Leia didn't seem inclined to follow Tamsin's lead._

"_Because it's easier if another woman explains things" Harry answered. Leia frowned at him. "I don't want to know mechanics Master; I took the sex education class you know."_

"_Then why the question?"_

"_Because I wanted to see what you would say" came the answer. Harry processed this for a minute before saying, "Anakin put you up to this didn't he?"_

_Leia grinned. "Yes, and the look on your face was so funny" she giggled. Harry mock growled before tackling her and then tickling her into submission._

_End flashback_

Harry shook his head and quickly found Leia's Force presence, opening their bond wider than it normally was to compensate for the distance.

_Padawan? What's going on? Did you get the plans to Obi-Wan and Luke alright?_

_Yes. We were on the way to Hoth when we got captured. I'm on the Death Star, which is floating above Alderaan. I'm scheduled to be interrogated and then taken to the Emperor. _

_Are you alright?_

_Yes, for now. I'm trying to find a way to escape but I'm being careful as I've been told that if I try to escape I'll be terminated, whether or not I've met the Emperor._

_Who's your captor?_

_Mara Jade._

_The Emperor's Hand?!_

_Yes._

_Don't go anywhere, I'll come and get you._

_Yes Master_

Harry broke the connection and rose, pacing as he worked out a rudimentary plan for rescuing his Padawan. He didn't blame her for being captured, and he knew that she would be blaming herself. It was her first solo mission, and those had a habit of going haywire in some places. She was a good planner, and strategist, and had the makings of an excellent diplomat. No wonder, given the fact that Padme had been training her in that area herself. Luke was much more like Anakin, with a gift for the Jedi arts, as well as flying and mechanics. Luke and Obi-Wan were on Tatooine, investigating claims of the Hutts accepting Force sensitive slaves. He knew that the plan was that Leia would deliver the Death Star plans to them for transport back to Yavin. Hopefully he could get their assistance in resucing Leia as well.

Obi-Wan was in an extremely grumpy mood at that time. He had never tolerated extreme climates very well, and being on Tatooine was his idea of hell at the best of times. Being stuck there with no transport due to his apprentice's forgetfulness with regards to filling up with fuel simply increased his annoyance.

"Padawan, please tell me you only forgot to fill the fuel tank and didn't forget other important items such as our lightsabers?" he said rather waspishly. Luke looked at him and shrugged. He was the same age as Tamsin and Leia, so he wasn't about to endlessly apologise like a younger Padawan might have done.

"No I didn't forget those Master, considering that they're attached to our belts" he replied, before adding, "Besides; we can always get transport off of here."

"How?" Obi-Wan asked with a raised eyebrow. Luke shrugged and indicated the nearby town of Mos Eisley. "Bars of course. They always have pilots there that are willing to carry passengers."

"Yes, and they're usually filled with Imperial spies. Have you forgotten our last mission where that spy almost caught you?"

Luke sighed. "She wasn't a spy and she wasn't trying to catch us Master, or not you at any rate. She was trying to pick me up, and doing an appalling job at that."

Obi-Wan snorted, but his eyes betrayed his amusement. Luke wasn't overly interested in women at the present time; the senior Padawan was more focused on reaching his Knighthood and beating the Empire to bother with females. Anakin and Harry however, had found themselves acting as defenders of their Padawans' honor on several occasions, driving off over eager males of all species on several missions. Leia, Obi-Wan had heard from a highly amused Harry, had even been propositioned by a young Hutt once. She hadn't appreciated it in the slightest.

The Jedi Master glanced at their ship, which would go nowhere without fuel, and then at the nearby town. Finally he growled slightly, adjusting his robe to protect himself from the sand and said, "Fine, let's try the bar. And if any women take an overt interest in you, would you kindly dissuade them with your usual style please? We've got R2 to protect as well; if the data in him is lost then it would seriously harm our plans."

Luke nodded, adjusted his robe as well and followed Obi-Wan to Mos Eisley. Each hoped that they could find a suitable pilot or they would be forced to call for help, which always carried the danger of the message being intercepted.

The bar was dark and fairly noisy. Luke looked round, he was not lacking in courage, but even he had his limits. He stayed fairly close to Obi-Wan as he'd recognized several wanted criminals among the crowd, one of whom had the dubious distinction of having the death penalty on twelve star systems.

Obi-Wan talked to several pilots before stiffening in surprise as a tall Wookie that he recognized came walking towards him.

"Chewie? What are you doing here; I thought you and Han were supposed to be helping out with some Imperial harassment regarding supply lines and things like that?"

Chewbacca growled in an exasperated tone and led Obi-Wan and Luke over to where Han was sitting. On seeing the two Jedi walking over to him Han sat up and grinned.

"Hey guys. Did the plan work out like you hoped?"

Obi-Wan frowned. "We have the data but Luke here forgot to fill the fuel tanks with sufficient fuel to get us back home. Do you have room on the _Falcon_?

Han nodded. "I thought Jedi were supposed to never get stuck like this" he said with a smirk. Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.

"Yes well, even Jedi can have their moments of forgetfulness" he muttered. Han laughed and told them to meet him at docking bay ninety four in a few minutes.

When they were on their way to docking bay ninety four Obi-Wan's comlink chimed. Answering it, he frowned when he heard Harry's explanation for where Leia was and what was happening. Luke turned round to look at him when he said, "We'll take a detour and pick her up, you don't need to leave the base. Don't worry."

"Don't worry about what Master?" Luke asked. Obi-Wan shook his head. "I need to speak with our pilot. We're picking up an extra passenger along the way."

Shaking his head, Luke got on board the _Millenium Falcon_, Han's ship. It didn't look like much but he trusted Han when he said that the_ Falcon_ had it where it counted. Harry's own personal ship, the _Marauder_ was now very beat up but it was still one of the two fastest ships in the Rebel fleet, and Harry wouldn't dream of flying anything else into battle.

When they were finally on their way, Luke fixed his master with a stare that said, "I want information and I want it now." Obi-Wan sighed. "We're not headed straight for Yavin. Leia was captured on her way to Hoth, and she's on the Death Star right now, hovering above Alderaan. That call I got on Tatooine was from Harry, he wanted us to accompany him to the Death Star to rescue her. I told him to stay put on Yavin, and we'd go retrieve her."

"We're going to waltz onto the Death Star and get Leia back!" Luke said incredulously. Obi-Wan shrugged. "Yes. If we don't, it's highly likely that we'll never see her again. She's in the hands of Mara Jade."

Luke shuddered and stopped protesting. In truth, he didn't mind the detour it was just that they'd got the plans with them and couldn't afford for R2 to be captured. Sinking into meditation, feeling Obi-Wan following him, he hoped that Leia was alright.

On the Death Star, Leia was resting in her cell, when the door opened and Mara stepped in. The assassin smirked as Leia caught sight of the interrogation droid that had floated in behind her, and the large needle that was pointed directly at the young Jedi. With nowhere to go, Leia had no choice but to accept the fact that she was going to be subjected to the droid's tender mercies. Closing her eyes, Leia withdrew in her mind as the powerful drug, designed to pierce any mental defenses she had, coursed through her body.

Leia floated in a haze of memories, seeing herself growing up as a Jedi, the struggle as she, Luke and Tamsin learnt to see their various family members as both family and as fellow Jedi. The lessons, the fun, the time when Harry had chosen her as his Padawan, the missions, everything. She dimly heard Mara asking her questions but she was trained to lie through something like this. The drug used was akin to a truth serum, which had no real effect on a Jedi, even though Leia could tell that the dose she'd been given was much higher than recommended.

Mara withdrew from Leia's cell 2 hours after entering, highly frustrated. Leia had given up nothing that could be used to find the Rebels, and hadn't cracked under torture either. Growling, she stomped off to meet Governor Tarkin, who had a surprising suggestion.

"Jedi are known to be compassionate Miss Jade. Use that against her."

Mara eyed him distrustfully and then asked, "How."

Tarkin barely avoided rolling his eyes and said, "Bring her up here, tell her that if she doesn't cooperate, she'll be the cause of the deaths of millions of innocent people."

"But Alderaan is a barren planet, there's no life there anymore. How are we going to get her to be compassionate about a wasteland?" Mara questioned. Tarkin shrugged. "Alderaan will be destroyed either way; my orders from the Emperor are to destroy it. However, if we show her the power that this weapon has, and then tell her that the next planet to go will be Earth, will that suffice do you think?"

Mara nodded. "I assume that the message we're sending to other systems is 'ally with the Rebellion and die?'" Tarkin nodded and replied, "Precisely. Why don't you go get our lovely young Jedi. It will be a pity to destroy her, it would leave us open to possible retaliation and whatever else they may be, Skywalker and Potter are extremely powerful."

"What does Potter have to do with anything?" Mara questioned. Tarkin smirked. "Rumor has it that our young Jedi down in the detention area is his apprentice." Mara shivered slightly as she went down to retrieve Leia. She'd seen the security holocams footage of her master's fight with Potter and Windu, and knew that Potter was indeed powerful. She would stand no chance against him in a fight.

Leia accompanied Mara up to the bridge, where she saw Alderaan floating in space just outside the Death Star. She then glared at Tarkin and snarled at him when he ran his hand down her cheek.

"Such beauty in one so young. I found it very difficult to sign your termination order I hope you know" he remarked. Leia snarled again and then hissed back, "I'm surprised you had the balls to sign it yourself. I thought you and the other governors didn't even go to the toilet without the Emperor's permission!"

Tarkin's eyes hardened before he smiled in a way that Leia didn't like at all. "Now now, I thought Jedi were taught to control their tempers, did you sleep through that class? Never mind, you were brought up here for a reason."

"What reason? The view isn't particularly nice but even if it was the company is enough to make me sick!" was the retort. The next sound was of Mara's hand meeting Leia's cheek as she put all her strength into the slap. Leia merely used the Force to heal the redness and smirked at Mara when the assassin growled at her refusal to show any sign of pain.

"Must you be so rude to our guest Miss Jade?" Tarkin asked before turning back to Leia. "The reason you are here, Miss Skywalker, is that you're a guest of honor at our ceremony which will make the station operational. We are destroying Alderaan here, right now; however, if you do not cooperate and give us the location of the Rebellion, then the next target will be your master's homeworld, known as Earth."

Leia closed her eyes. She appeared to be sorting through her options but in reality she was having a lightning fast conversation with Harry.

_Master things have just gone from bad to worse. The Death Star is going to fire on Alderaan and then they'll destroy Earth if I don't give them our base_ Leia said.

_Give them Dantooine, it won't hurt us if they blow that up. It's a supply station yes but not an active base. Can you give me the general gist of what's happened?_ Harry asked, concerned.

After receiving the brief memory, Harry swore before bracing himself and telling Leia to do the same.

_They'll blow up Alderaan anyway Leia, they won't go away without making a statement. Give them Dantooine, I don't particularly want Earth destroyed._

_Yes Master. Are you annoyed with how this has turned out?_

_No. First solo missions have a habit of going haywire, and help is on the way. Obi-Wan and Luke are en route, they should reach you soon. Just have faith Leia, everything will be OK._

Leia closed the connection and seemed to deflate. Harry always seemed to be able to calm her whenever she was stressed or upset, especially when she couldn't do so herself. Moments where she couldn't calm herself were rare nowadays as she was 20 years old and a Senior Padawan. Still, she could always count on him to be there for her if she needed it, and Anakin had told both her and Luke that there was no shame in letting themselves lean on their masters if they needed to, no matter what age they were.

Leia opened her eyes and looked at Tarkin. In a defeated voice she said, "Dantooine. They're on Dantooine." Tarkin smirked before saying, "Thank you." Turning to the technician he said, "Fire when ready."

A few seconds later, Alderaan ceased to exist.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen: Rescue and Plans**

Leia stood on the observation deck of the Death Star and stared in horror at where Alderaan used to be. She struggled to contain her emotions, not wanting to let her captors know how affected she was. Harry was a big help here, offering as much support and comfort as he could via their bond but it was still an effort.

Finally she turned to Tarkin and hissed, "And you call yourselves humans?! That was outright murder you heartless bastards. Why did you do that?"

Tarkin merely smiled coolly at her. "Why my dear Jedi, to show the entire galaxy the power of this battle station. Once the Emperor dissolves the Imperial Senate, the Republic will be gone for good and the regional governors will have control of their regions."

"And just how do you expect to keep thousands of star systems in line with your oppressive, unreasonable and thoroughly ridiculous dictatorship?" Leia enquired. She was unsettled even further at the satisfied smirk on Tarkin's face.

"Fear, my lovely Padawan. Fear of this battle station. That's why we hoped to wipe out the Jedi you see, we can't have them multiplying and preaching that there is no fear now can we."

Leia spat in his face. "The more you tighten your grip Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers. The only reason you have so many laws is so that the people can't rise up and overthrow you and your precious Emperor. He's afraid you see."

"Afraid of what exactly?" Mara snarled, not liking her master being insulted like this. Leia smirked at her. "Afraid of the Jedi, and of my master and my father in particular. Get the two of them together, and he won't stand a chance."

"He stood a chance when he beat both of them at the start of your rebellion!" Mara spat.

Leia now stood calmly, having learnt that it rattled her opponents if she didn't seem to care about what they said. "Yes he did. However, he is getting old, and his skills are declining. I heard he spends most of his time in meetings, whereas my father and master both spend their days practicing their skills and keeping up to date."

"They're both getting old too!" Mara was struggling to keep control of the situation. Leia shrugged. "Maybe but they're still young compared to Sidious. Besides, my master is only around fifty three or so, he's still in fine form when it comes to fighting. My father is younger than that too. Compared to the Emperor, they've got years of fight left in them.

Mara growled and activated her lightsaber, holding it close to Leia's throat. "If my master didn't need you as bait to draw your father and your thrice-damned master out of whatever hole they're hiding in I'd kill you right now" she growled. Leia just shrugged. "Yes but he does need me so you'd better be a bit nicer to me hadn't you. After all, you don't want me to tell him that you mistreated me do you."

Mara merely snarled in rage and snapped "Take her back to her cell. We'll go to Imperial City and deliver her." As Leia was led away she gave Harry a brief run down of what had happened.

On Yavin, Harry opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times. The situation with Leia looked to be stable for now. The Imperials wouldn't risk killing her and if Obi-Wan, Luke and Han didn't reach her in time then he knew where she'd be headed. Closing his eyes again he stretched out on his bed, feeling Ginny curl up beside him. He held her tightly, needing reassurance that she was there. His thoughts drifted to Tamsin, who had headed out on her own mission recently. He hoped she was safe, however as Anakin was doing enough worrying for both of them he just trusted that his daughter knew what she was doing.

On board the _Falcon _they were coming up on Alderaan. Luke had finished his daily exercises although both he and Obi-Wan had been startled and deeply worried when they'd felt the surge in the Force which accompanied Alderaan's destruction. As they were in hyperspace there was no way to contact anyone to find out what it was.

As the ship dropped out of hyperspace it was hit by several pieces of rock and Han quickly maneuvered around the unexpected missiles. Looking through the viewports he growled and spun round to face the two Jedi.

"Where the hell's Alderaan and why are we in the middle of an asteroid shower?" he snapped. Obi-Wan and Luke could only shrug, they didn't know either. Just then they spotted the Death Star up ahead and Luke reached out to his sister.

_Leia_ he called mentally. In her cell in the detention area Leia sat up abruptly.

_Luke. Where are you?_

_Coming up on the Death Star. What the hell happened, we felt a surge in the Force and Alderaan has disappeared._

_The Death Star has a laser beam strong enough to destroy an entire planet. They tested it on Alderaan. The planet was completely destroyed._

There was a brief pause while Luke relayed the information to Obi-Wan which stunned him for a moment before he recovered.

_You there Luke?_

_Yeah I'm here. Where are they keeping you, we need to get in, get you out and then Obi-Wan is going to reprogram the damn thing so it has a new target._

_Level 5 detention area, cell block AA23, cell number 2187. Hurry. Mara Jade is getting impatient and wants to kill me._

_Yeah well she won't get the chance. Hang in there sis, we're on the way._

_Hurry. And DON'T CALL ME SIS!_

Luke chuckled. He knew she didn't like being called that, it was his way of getting her to focus on something other than worry over her situation.

"Master, what is the exact plan for getting Leia out of here? And where are we reprogramming the Death Star to go?" he asked.

Obi-Wan smiled slightly. "You are going to get Leia out of there, along with Han and Chewie. R2 will stay hidden in the smuggling compartments of the ship; he won't be found that way. I will be doing the reprogramming and then I'll meet you back at the ship."

Luke sighed. "Fine but don't get killed Master."

Obi-Wan threw his Padawan an exasperated look and replied, "If you don't get Leia out of there safely you'll be the one facing Harry's wrath, not me."

Luke just smirked. "Yes but I'm just a Padawan, you're the one entrusted with her overall safety." He ducked to avoid a small pillow that his master threw at him and looked out at the approaching Death Star. A few minutes later there was a small jolt and both Jedi felt the unmistakable pull of a tractor beam pulling the _Millennium Falcon_ into the docking bay of the massive battle station.

Han, Chewie, Luke, Obi-Wan and R2 quickly moved into the smuggling compartments and remained quiet while a contingent of stormtroopers with scanning equipment searched the ship. Once they were gone they cautiously lifted the covers and got out.

"Right. You go and do that reprogramming thing and we'll go get Leia. I want to see for myself that she's safe" Han said, looking serious. Luke and Obi-Wan looked at him for a moment.

"Fancy her do you?" Luke teased. Han looked embarrassed for a moment before shrugging. "Yes I do as it happens. She's smart, has one hell of a temper and a strong personality. I happen to like that. Now, let's go rescue her."

"You do realize that if this relationship of yours progresses you're going to have to ask both our father and Harry for permission to marry her?" Luke smirked at Han's slightly panicked look.

"Yes well, we've got a long way to go before that stage so I don't have to worry about it" the smuggler muttered as they made their way down the hall towards the turbolifts. Obi-Wan had gone off in the direction of the power generators where the tractor beam holding the _Falcon _prisoner was located.

Luke, Han and Chewie made it to the detention level by pretending that Chewie was a prisoner. Once there, the plan turned to custard. "Luke we're going to have company!" Han yelled as the Imperials sent a squad of guards to investigate the disturbance in the detention level caused by the brief shooting match between the two sides.

"Hey Leia we're here" Luke said brightly as he entered Leia's cell. She looked up and then hugged Luke tightly. "Finally. Now, what the hell was that?" she questioned, running out of the cell to see Han fighting off a dozen or so guards.

"Oh hell, did you two cut off our escape route?" she questioned as she drew her lightsaber. She had used the Force to get one of the guards to give it to her earlier in the day, and was very glad now that she had.

"Not intentionally!" Luke hissed as they moved forward, falling into the familiar battle routine that they used when they fought together. Han heard the two lightsabers hiss into life and retreated, allowing the two Jedi towards the front to deflect the enemy fire.

"Move forward!" Leia snapped and the trio drove the guards back, many falling victim to their own side's fire as the deadly laser bolts were deflected right back at them and there wasn't enough room to dodge.

The three made it right out into the main hallway of level five and took off running. "We need to get back to the ship, hopefully Kenobi's got both the tractor beam out of commission and reprogrammed this damn floating ball otherwise we're screwed" Han panted. Luke and Leia said nothing but as they turned a corner and came into view of the _Falcon _they stopped abruptly.

Obi-Wan was dueling with Mara, or more accurately, he was toying with her as her lightsaber skills weren't nearly as good as his. Not wanting to distract his master, Luke waited until there was a brief lull in the action and then sent a message.

_Master we're across the hangar bay, we can see the ship. Just opposite you as a matter of fact. Did you succeed?"_

_Yes I did Padawan, then this person interrupted my leisurely stroll back to meet you _came the slightly sarcastic reply. Obi-Wan turned, ending the duel with a small twist of his weapon which slid his blade down Mara's and sliced through the hilt. He then disengaged his blade, bowed to her and walked towards the ship, activating his blade in an instant to deflect the fire from the stormtroopers who had noticed him.

Leia leapt in to help while Han and Chewie ran for the ship to get it started up. Leia and Obi-Wan retreated backwards towards the ship, deflecting blaster fire all the way. Only when they reached the ramp did they notice that they were missing a person.

Luke was dodging and deflecting the blaster fire directed at him but his eyes were focused on Mara, who he thought looked quite beautiful. The Padawan was so fixated on her that he never noticed his master's approach and it was only when Obi-Wan grabbed his ear and began pulling him towards the ship, deflecting the odd blaster bolt that came near them, that he realized what was going on.

"Ow Master that hurts" he sniped, rubbing his ear when Obi-Wan finally let go of it on board the ship. Obi-Wan glared at him. "If you hadn't been staring at the Emperor's assassin like Han stares at Leia I wouldn't have had to do that. You put yourself in danger by letting your hormones interfere with your concentration. Were you trying to get yourself killed?!"

Luke scowled. "No! But I didn't think I wasn't allowed to appreciate a beautiful woman when I see one!"

"Even when the beautiful woman is the person who would have gladly tortured and killed your only sister?" Leia asked. Luke looked ashamed.

"Sorry. I don't know what came over me" he muttered, and went up to the cockpit to see what was going on there.

"Well that was an exciting experience" Leia remarked, flopping into her chair. "Did R2 reach you in time?" she asked Obi-Wan. A bleep from behind her answered her question and she turned round. "Oh good R2 you made it. The plans are safe?"

R2 bleeped and whistled indignantly, he was very proud of safeguarding the plans she'd entrusted him with and was insulted that she thought the plans would be anything other than safe.

"OK R2, she didn't mean to insult you. She's just been through a tough time recently" Luke said, calming the small droid down. He'd returned from the cockpit in time to hear the question and see R2's reaction. He had been followed by Han who had set the ship on autopilot and come out to the main area. Without pausing to think about what he was doing, Han engulfed Leia in a hug. She stiffened initially but then returned it.

Luke and Obi-Wan looked at each other with raised eyebrows but didn't comment. The unspoken thought between them though was that it would be interesting to see where this went. It was Chewie who broke it up. In the Wookie language he asked, "So Han, you've found your mate. Are there going to be cubs anytime soon?"

Both Han and Leia jumped apart, blushing heavily. Luke quietly snickered into his hand while Obi-Wan just looked amused. Luke then looked at Leia and said, "Sorry for being distracted back on the Death Star. I didn't think and I'm sorry."

Both Obi-Wan and Leia looked at him, before looking at each other. They then looked back at him and replied in unison, "Apology accepted." Luke relaxed in some relief and Leia hugged him, followed by Obi-Wan. At 51 years old, Obi-Wan was starting to have some grey in his hair, but he was still good in a fight, the same way that Harry was. He hadn't appreciated seeing Luke get so distracted like that though, he had thought that his apprentice was more focused than that.

'Still, he is still a teenager' he thought to himself.

"So where is that big floating menace headed to now?" Han enquired. Luke and Leia sat up straighter, wanting to hear the answer. Obi-Wan smirked. "The Jedi Council, along with the Rebel Alliance leaders thought it might be a good idea for the Death Star to show its destructive capabilities on the world of Carida."

"Carida – isn't that the Imperial military training facility?" Leia asked. A brief nod from Obi-Wan confirmed it and she gasped. "But, but what about all the recruits? Surely the Rebellion isn't advocating murdering the recruits the way Palpatine ordered the deaths of the Jedi at the start of the Empire?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "We're not. Harry was against the idea too until we assured him that we'd do it during one of the brief breaks in training that the recruits get. They're allowed, in fact they are ordered, off base to go visit family or something like that. The only ones around will be the training officers, who are all currently serving in the Imperial military in one form or another. It will be a strategic strike and will reduce the numbers the Empire can call on for a while, while a new training facility is set up."

"Will we be blowing up every training facility they have?" Luke asked. Obi-Wan shook his head. "No. After this, I have programmed the last destination for the Death Star to be the Maw. It will head down there and be destroyed, gone for good. The Council has already assigned Knight Syra to go and destroy the Imperial copy of the plans for it, so they can't build a new one quickly, and he will also be planting a virus in their computer systems which corrupts any new data they enter. It will look normal when they enter it but when they next try to retrieve it, it will be totally messed up."

"Will the Empire be able to remove it?"

"That's the beauty of it. They won't be able to remove it, they'll have to completely wipe and then reinstall all new software. Any disk or anything infected with the virus will transmit it as well, so if they try to use an old disk with the new system the cycle will repeat itself."

"So the Empire will be essentially crippled for months" Han whispered while Chewie gave a growl of amusement at the thought.

"Mhmm, not months. It probably won't take long for the Empire to figure out what we did but it's the inconvenience of it that we're counting on. While they're figuring out what happened and how to fix it, plus the reinstallation, we're busy coming up with a plan to get rid of Palpatine."

"Er, how are we going to do that? Even a killing curse didn't stop him, I know Harry was horribly frustrated over that" Leia remarked. Obi-Wan gave her a grim smile.

"We figured out why he didn't die. That blasted Chosen One prophecy says that only Anakin can kill him, to bring balance to the Force. Harry was the wrong Chosen One that's all."

"So we send Dad in there, accompanied by Harry, me, Leia, Tamsin, anyone else that wants to come along and we take out the rotten bastard" Luke shrugged.

"Ow!" he complained a second later as Obi-Wan tugged his braid sharply. "We are not going to assassinate the Emperor Luke" he snapped. "We will do this properly, by challenging him to a duel."

"He won't play by our rules though Master" Leia commented. Obi-Wan nodded.

"No he won't. However, if we bait the trap enough, offer him Harry as well as Anakin, then he'll come out. He wants them dead, he's smart enough to see that they are the figureheads of the Order, if they die; we lose hope for his defeat."

"That might work. Will it be public though?" Han asked. Obi-Wan shrugged.

"Don't know. The duel is just an idea though, it's not set in concrete yet, we might come up with another plan, one that doesn't involve assassination" he said, casting another sharp look at Luke. The teenage Jedi merely shrugged.

"Hey I want him gone just as much as the rest of us, can you blame me for wanting to take him out as quickly as possible?"

"No but I do expect you to think like a Jedi and take it seriously. Even though he has to die for us to return the Republic to what it was, we will not take his death lightly. Whatever he is, whatever he's done, he is still a man. We should respect his humanity, even if we don't respect anything else about him" Obi-Wan stated, standing up and stretching, before going to his cabin and settling in for a brief nap, leaving behind two very thoughtful Padawans. Luke was also once more feeling a bit guilty and he sent a brief apology down the bond between him and Obi-Wan. Just as he was dropping off to sleep he felt it acknowledged and then a sense of forgiveness and comfort surrounding him. Reassured, he dropped off to sleep and didn't awaken until they landed in the hidden docking bay on Yavin.

As Leia walked down the ramp she was engulfed in a strong hug from Harry. After a few minutes she gasped and tried to wriggle free. "Master, you're suffocating me" she gulped. Harry let go and began doing a light Force scan to check her health. "Are you alright, did anything happen apart from what you told me, did you succeed in your primary mission, how are you?" he asked seemingly in one breath before dragging her over to Erylyn who was now nearing the completion of her training as well. The eighteen year old Healer Padawan smiled.

"Hey Leia. You seem fine to me but let's check you out anyway so your master doesn't skin me alive" she joked. Leia smirked in reply and said, "I wouldn't worry, if he skinned you, then your master would skin him."

Erylyn chuckled; it was a well known fact around the Temple that no one messed with Healer Potter when she was in a temper. That went for both Lily and Ginny actually, but it was Ginny that Harry would have to be afraid of if he upset Erylyn. Harry knew better than to upset his wife's Padawan, the last time he'd done it, he'd ended up as a slug for a day. Both Lily and James had refused to turn him back as well, and the spell had been such that only Ginny could take it off.

After a full scan Erylyn smiled. "You're all clear Leia, you just need some rest." Leia thanked her and walked over to Harry. "I'm all clear Master now can we go tell the Council and the Rebel Alliance what happened? Then I need to sleep."

Harry nodded. "Of course Padawan. Might I ask what Luke's looking a bit depressed over?"

Leia shrugged. "He let himself get distracted and Master Kenobi wasn't happy about it. That's all. Oh, by the way, if we're sending the Death Star into the massive black hole known as the Maw then why do we need the plans for it?"

Harry chuckled. "So that we will have a copy even though the Imperial copy of the schematics are going to be wiped out thanks to that little computer virus that Syra will be installing soon. That way, if they do come up with another design, we should be able to figure it out without needing to steal another set of plans."

"That sounds good. I hear you figured out why Palpatine didn't die when you hit him with that curse." Leia leaned into Harry briefly as they walked, smiling when Harry slid an arm round her shoulders.

"Yes we did. We haven't come up with a sure way to get to him though. All the plans we think of sound a little too much like assassination for our collective liking."

Leia frowned. "This is a problem. Couldn't we persuade a bounty hunter to take you and Dad to Coruscant and then the two of you could kill him?"

Harry shook his head. "Again, it sounds like we'd be assassinating him. We don't want to make him into a martyr here, which is what we would be doing. No, we need to find another way."

"How are your Earth friends doing with fitting into the war effort?"

Harry laughed. "They're doing really well. Severus is working with Fred and George and they are having the time of their lives, coming up with nasty potions to render the Imperial troops harmless without killing them, I believe the latest one is a range of sweets designed to render the Imperials temporarily blind or other things at random periods. All those affected have to be pulled off duty until it passes. There are others but that's the latest one."

Leia chuckled as they reached the door to their apartment. Walking inside, Leia dropped her bag and headed for the shower. A brief period of time later and she was dried, dressed and in bed. When Harry checked on her, he found her fast asleep and he smiled. Seeing that she needed the rest, he put her dinner under freshness and warming charms for her so she could eat when she awoke. After doing that he went to find the Rebel Alliance leaders. It was time to see about dealing with Palpatine once and for all.

**Author Note**

**Well here is the next instalment. I was watching A New Hope the other night and thinking about things but if the rescue seems a little too much like the movie then blame the fact that I'd watched it recently and had the scenes floating through my head. On another note, I have been writing several of my stories that will not be posted until they're complete and I find myself in need of a beta for them. I have just started writing Erasing History and I have lots of ideas for that one at present so that's the one I'm working on aside from WANP and Dark Apprentice. My other beta seems to have disappeared on me, so I need a new one. If anyone would like to volunteer, simply send me a message and I'll tell you which stories are currently in progress and you can pick one or more that you like to beta. I really do need one for Erasing History though, as that one might be the next to be posted after WANP and DA are done although it depends on how many chapters are written for it. **

**May the Force be with you**

**Padawan Lynne**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen: Unforeseen Events**

Harry sat down in the seat reserved for him in the Rebellion headquarters, looking around him at the various members of the Alliance. They were a motley group, but all dedicated to one thing: returning the Republic to its former glory. Shaking his head at the small arguments erupting round him the Jedi Master sought out his Padawan, finding that she'd awoken at last and was busy eating.

_You OK Master? _Leia asked, feeling his mental probe along their bond.

_Yes Padawan, just checking up on you. What do you have planned today?_

_Not much. Could I come join you, I know Mum's going to be speaking about some new mission today and I'd like to see what the Rebel Alliance is like._

_Alright, but you'd better get here quickly then. The meeting will start in about five minutes._

The connection closed as Leia finished wolfing down her food and then ran for the meeting room, dodging Alliance members and other Jedi on the way. At the door she crashed into Anakin, sending both of them down in a heap.

"Oof, Leia, you're too heavy to do that now, why didn't you stop?" Anakin complained, shoving his daughter off. Leia rose, wincing at the bruises she could feel forming and replied, "Sorry Dad, but Master Harry said to get here quickly so I did." She felt a light tug on her braid and turned round to see amused green eyes sparkling at her.

"Yes I did Leia, I didn't ask you to almost flatten your father though. Although, maybe now that you have he won't have so much of a flabby stomach" Harry teased, seeing Anakin's affronted glare at the insinuation that he was out of shape.

"This coming from the guy that injures himself by overextending during training and then avoids the infirmary like the plague?" he snorted as the three took their seats. Leia looked round and then asked, "Where's Tamsin?"

Anakin glanced at her. "Off on her first solo mission. That's why I'm here, we set it up in conjunction with the Rebellion, so we should be hearing about it today."

"You've had no contact with her?" Harry asked. Anakin shook his head morosely.

"No. She should have contacted us by now. I know it's left up to her discretion but I can't shake the feeling that something's gone wrong." Harry patted his shoulder sympathetically and tried to sense Tamsin's Force presence. He couldn't though, and gave up trying when Mon Mothma came to the podium to speak.

"Members of the Alliance, as well as our Jedi friends, we have some startling and bad news. The mission to send the Death Star down the Maw has succeeded, as has the implantation of the computer virus by Jedi Knight Syra Veldt. Unfortunately, while the Death Star was programmed to destroy the Imperial training base on the world of Carida by Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, things went wrong. We set the date of Carida's destruction at a time when we believed the base would be empty of all recruits and only technical staff would be left. We were wrong."

Harry, Anakin and Leia felt a deep foreboding at those words and fell into horrified silence when the former Senator said, "Carida was destroyed the day before the recruits were due to leave. The destruction claimed the lives of around twelve hundred recruits and staff."

Harry gave a silent groan; he hadn't liked the idea of destroying the training base in the first place and to hear that a botch up like this had happened… He was brought out of this train of thought when Mon Mothma said, "This was not Master Kenobi's fault, the training officers delayed the recruits' departure by two days for some unknown reason."

She stepped down, allowing Admiral Ackbar, a native from the water world of Mon Calimari to take the floor. "While this is a distressing turn of events, we have had reports from a Jedi sent to gauge the Emperor's reaction to this." Harry's head snapped up, as did Anakin's. The Jedi in question was Tamsin.

"The Emperor is reportedly absolutely furious at not only his military training school being destroyed but also his computer systems being shut down with that virus that was mentioned earlier. This was all that Jedi Potter could get to us before she signed off. We hope to hear more from her later but for now; we need to discuss how we're going to get rid of the Emperor for good."

As the discussion rose around them, Anakin and Harry sat in grim silence. Their feelings about Tamsin's mission had just upped in intensity, and they couldn't do anything to help her.

On Coruscant, or Imperial Centre, Tamsin was crouched in a hangar bay, mentally preparing herself for the mission of her life. It wasn't perhaps fair that she be asked to do the task that she'd been appointed, as she was so young, but it was felt that she was the best person for the job. Her mission, aside from reporting to the Rebellion on the Emperor's reaction to their strategic strikes on Imperial property, was to infiltrate his main guard and get close to him. If she was discovered, it was left up to her to either talk or fight her way out. This second part of her mission had been kept secret from everyone except her, Severus Snape and the Council. Harry and Anakin would never have gone along with it, and Ginny would have eviscerated all of them if they had told her as well. Snape had been told because he needed to teach her how to be an effective spy.

Taking a deep breath and then letting it out slowly, Tamsin centered herself and approached one of the guards. "Excuse me; I'm looking for Emperor Palpatine's office. I have some documents he needs to see" she said, holding up a datapad. The twenty year old Padawan used the Force to compel the man into giving her the required access and she made her way up to the Emperor's main office.

Palpatine was having a bad day. First his computer system is wiped out by some pesky virus, and then his Death Star blows up his military training compound before heading into a black hole! He looked up and glared at the young woman entering the office, putting every scrap of exasperation and anger he could into it.

"What do you want!" he snapped. He didn't recognize her, and Tamsin smiled. Good. "I brought those datapads you requested sir, and I would like a moment of your time, in private" she said looking at him.

Palpatine frowned as he picked up the datapads, looking at them briefly before putting them on the edge of his desk. He waved a hand and his ever present guards left, leaving Palpatine alone with Tamsin.

The Jedi lowered her hood and released the glamour charm, letting her similarity to her father be shown. Palpatine leant back in his chair, shocked. "What would bring Harry Potter's daughter to me like this? Why are you here? Did they finally decide to assassinate me and send you to do it?" he mocked. Tamsin frowned. Now was where the secret training from Snape and the tips from Voldemort before she left on the mission would come into play.

"No my Lord. They don't know my true purpose here, they think that I'm spying on you and just reporting back what I hear. They'd kill me if they knew the truth" she said, crossing her fingers. Harry and Anakin wouldn't actually kill her but this was the first step in the Council's plan to force a duel between Anakin and Palpatine – a duel which Anakin had no intention of losing.

"No? Well, I must say, are you intending to swap sides?" Palpatine enquired, already mentally planning the training that would be required to mold the fiery young Jedi in front of him into a vicious Sith. He mentally cackled with glee, imagining the look on Harry's face when he realized that his daughter had betrayed the Jedi.

Tamsin looked at Palpatine and then sank down onto one knee. "Yes my Lord. I am yours to command." She hated having to say it, but it was necessary. Mentally, she pushed her real self into a box in her mind and prepared to act the part of a traitor.

Palpatine sneered. "I don't believe you. At least not yet. You need to prove your loyalty to me before I believe your sincerity,_ Jedi_."

Tamsin controlled her reaction to that, she had been warned by Snape that Palpatine would expect some sort of proof of her loyalty to him, and Voldemort had come up with a plan to help her through whatever it was. While Palpatine was thinking, Tamsin was remembering her conversation with both the dead Dark Lord and the ex spy.

"_Remember, Palpatine's already tried the recruitment angle with your master, and also your father. He's not going to believe that Harry Potter's daughter willingly turned to the Dark Side unless you prove it" Snape had said seriously._

_Tamsin looked at him and then replied, "Yes, but what will I have to do to prove it, and how will I make it convincing?" she asked. Both she and Snape turned round at the sound of a chuckle behind them._

"_Really Tamsin, I thought that you'd have more imagination, your father certainly does" Voldemort said, as he shimmered into view. Tamsin glared at him. "I thought you only annoyed the Emperor and gave advice to my father. Speaking of which, why not the other way round, I mean, you are a Dark Lord."_

_Voldemort laughed. "I respect your father Tamsin, he was a worthy opponent, and I enjoy seeing Palpatine get his underwear in a knot whenever I mock him about his inability to kill your father. It's a sensitive topic you see."_

_Tamsin gave a short laugh. "Yeah, it must be. How do you propose that I get through his loyalty test then?"_

_Voldemort grinned evilly. "Why, by letting me possess you of course. I get to do some evil things again, and you get to prove yourself to him while not having to actually do whatever it is he asks."_

_Tamsin now rose and walked towards Voldemort. "If you think that I am going to let you possess me for one second then you're crazy. How do I know that you'll let me go?"_

_Voldemort grimaced. "Because you are so full of that blasted emotion known as love that it will be excruciatingly painful for me to possess you for more than a few seconds. I will stay there until the test is over but then I will be more than happy to de-possess you again."_

_Tamsin smirked. "Fine. Now, how am I supposed to gain access to him?"_

Tamsin shook herself out of the memory as Palpatine smiled. "I have just the thing to test you my young Jedi." He smirked as he pressed a button on his desk and said, "Bring in the prisoner."

He and Tamsin watched as two of Palpatine's Red Guards dragged in a young boy, who wasn't much older than six. Palpatine watched Tamsin's reaction out of the corner of his eye, and was pleasantly surprised when he noticed that her expression was completely blank. Smirking, he turned to her and said, "Torture and then kill him."

Tamsin was using a lot of willpower to keep her face blank and her emotions under control. She'd thought the test might be something like this but still, she hadn't quite been prepared for it to actually happen. Sighing she opened her shields slightly.

_OK Voldemort, you can come in now _she said mentally. The young Jedi then experienced the odd sensation of having another presence completely in her mind. It wasn't like the bond she shared with her master. The bond gave both her and Anakin a sense of each other's emotions and general health, plus the telepathy, but not complete access to each other's minds. Voldemort would in essence take over control of her body for a brief time, which Anakin couldn't, and furthermore, would never, do.

_OW ow owowowowowow _Voldemort hissed as he settled in Tamsin's mind, taking a moment to appreciate the raw power he could sense inside her. She was similar to Harry, yet different as well. Taking control of her body, he prepared to give Palpatine a torture display that would blow the Sith away.

Several hours later, the dead body of the young boy was removed by the guards and Tamsin collapsed to her knees, mentally and emotionally exhausted by the ordeal. Palpatine nodded his approval, hiding the fact that some of the methods that Tamsin had supposedly used made even him a bit sick.

"Well done, my new apprentice. Your new quarters are just down the hall, in the residential wing. They're next to mine. Go and get some rest. I'll give you your new name later."

Tamsin rose, bowed and left Palpatine's presence, trying without success to block the images of what had happened from her mind. As she settled down to sleep, she had a fleeting thought that she was glad her master and her father couldn't see what she'd done.

Back on Yavin, Harry and Anakin had seen what she'd done though. Palpatine still didn't know about the video and audio charms round his office and Tamsin had forgotten about them. When Ginny came to see what had kept Harry so long in the Intelligence offices she found him and Anakin staring blankly at the screen.

"She, I can't believe it. She wouldn't" Anakin finally whispered, thoroughly sickened. Harry placed a trembling hand on his shoulder. "I know," he said quietly, "it must be some sort of set up, she couldn't do that willingly."

Ginny wrapped her arms round Harry and held him. "What's wrong" she asked. In reply, Anakin just pushed the replay button and Ginny watched in horror as Tamsin tortured and killed the young boy on the orders of Palpatine.

"Well I never! Do you two honestly believe that she would do that?!" Ginny snarled. Harry and Anakin looked at her, and then each other and slowly shook their heads. "No but how do you explain it…" Harry trailed off as the same thought occurred to both him and Anakin.

"She wasn't allowed to talk about the mission prior to departure, she spent an awful lot of time with Severus prior to the mission and the Council has been steadily refusing us information on the exact details of it. They're using her as a spy!" Anakin snarled, pacing round the office.

"Yes but what do we do about it?" Harry growled, running a hand through his hair. "We can't interfere, that would get her killed, but at the same time, she's probably falling to pieces inside about having to do what she did."

"Actually you're wrong. She didn't do it, I did" Voldemort said, appearing out of thin air. He winced when Harry glared at him. "If looks could kill Potter," he murmured. Anakin growled and poked his finger through Voldemort's chest. "Explain" he growled.

Voldemort shrugged. "Oh very well. See, both Severus and I knew she wouldn't be able to torture and kill on command so I possessed her to help her through it. It was I that did the torturing and killing – Tamsin was only an observer you might say. The fact that it was excruciatingly painful for me to possess her is a side issue."

"So you were in pain when you possessed her?" Harry enquired. At Voldemort's rather sour nod he smirked. "Good." He then collapsed onto the couch in the office. "What are we going to do?" he asked no one in particular.

"You could begin by asking Severus what the point was of all the subterfuge" Voldemort suggested. He was met by two startled looks, and then Anakin got off the couch where he'd been sitting beside Harry and went to the comm.

"Shall we move this discussion to my quarters Harry?" Anakin asked. Receiving a nod he called Severus and asked him to come to Anakin's quarters as soon as possible. Once that was done, Harry and Anakin set off for the same destination, with Voldemort floating along behind them, invisible of course; he didn't feel like scaring the rest of the Jedi out of their wits. Ginny left them to it and went back to the Infirmary as she was on duty.

When Severus arrived at Anakin's quarters he found both Harry and Anakin glaring at him. He raised an eyebrow, hiding the fact that he found both of them glaring like they were rather intimidating. Settling himself on the sofa he said, "So what has you two glaring at me like I'm Voldemort and Sidious combined?"

Harry snorted. "You've been hiding the fact that Tamsin has been asked to spy on Palpatine, and that her undercover position would be as his personal apprentice."

Anakin growled as he added, "And the fact that Voldemort had to possess her so she could get through the test without arousing suspicion."

Severus paled. "How do you know this?" he asked as he recovered. Harry snarled at him before turning away and reining in his emotions. He was a Jedi Master, he couldn't afford to lose control like this.

"We placed audio and video surveillance charms all over Palpatine's quarters and main office, it's how we keep an eye on his activities" he explained when he turned to face Severus again. The Potions Master winced. "We forgot about that" he admitted.

Anakin snorted. "There's not a lot we can do about it now but tell us this: How is she supposed to give us information, or is that not her purpose?"

Severus now shook his head slowly. "I don't know the exact details of her mission, but I do know that the Council wants to force a confrontation between Sidious and the two of you. Tamsin is supposed to bring this about in some way, but I don't know exactly how."

Harry and Anakin both scowled at this and then abruptly sat down on opposite chairs. "Well, what do we do?" Anakin finally asked. Harry looked at him levelly. "We do the only thing we can do Anakin. We leave her to do her job."

Anakin looked aghast. "But if Sidious finds out then he'll kill her! We can't leave her to that fate!"

Harry glared at him. "Do you think I like it any more than you do?" he snapped. "She's your Padawan yes, but she's also my daughter. The same is true for Leia but in reverse, she's my Padawan and your daughter. How did you feel when you heard that we'd been captured on Alderaan?"

Anakin slumped into his chair. "Horrible but I trusted you to get both her and yourself out of there. I was right too" he muttered. Harry leaned forward and placed a hand on his arm. "It's hard Anakin, I know. But we've got no choice really. We must trust her to do her job and not jeopardize it. We can do something else though" he said, his look turning to one of grim amusement.

Anakin and Severus looked at him with suspicion, and then groaned when Harry said, "We tell the Council exactly how we feel about this information being kept from us, and if necessary, reinforce it with a few practical demonstrations."

"Didn't they set it up in conjunction with the Alliance though?" Snape asked. Harry shrugged. "Yes but the Council could have chosen to send someone else. Hell, even I could have been convincing, if Voldemort had managed to possess me long enough to actually convince Sidious."

Voldemort shimmered into view and scowled at Harry. "No you couldn't. It was painful enough for me to possess your daughter, I'd have died if I'd had to possess you" he snapped. Harry looked at him blankly and then said, "Er, Voldemort, you're already dead. You can't die again."

Voldemort glared at him and snapped, "It was a figure of speech you brainless idiot! Besides, your daughter should do well enough now, I'll possess her when need be but she should be fine. Your concern should be that she's been asking her Master over there for a full out duel with you and he's been steadily refusing her requests for the past few months. What happens if she comes up against you in her role as a Sith? You'd have a full out duel anyway, and she'd be using the Dark Side as well. It would be like you versus Anakin all over again. Only you're too much of a Light Sider to kill your own daughter, whereas in her role as a Sith she might very well have to submerge her qualms about killing you and actually do it!"

He faded away from view, leaving Harry staring at Anakin. "Is what he said true?" Harry finally asked. Anakin hesitated and then nodded glumly. "Yes. I keep telling her that she'd only end up flat on her back within two seconds, that the duels she's had with you are nowhere near your full dueling capability but she doesn't believe me."

Harry shook his head and rose to look out the window. He wasn't really seeing the scenery outside though; all his thoughts were turned inward. Would he really have to fight Tamsin in an all out duel at some point in the future? And if he did, if she had somehow been turned, would he be able to kill his own child? His mind slid away from another, worse scenario, that if something happened and he found himself at Tamsin's mercy, would she kill him in order to keep her cover?

**Author Note**

**I'm in something of a quandary here. I don't yet know which direction to take the rest of this story and then stories five and six. I have three options. One is to kill Sidious/Palpatine off in this story and then have him reborn in the fifth one via a secret clone that no one knew about and Harry and Anakin kill him for good in the sixth story. The second option is that Palpatine is weakened by fighting Anakin and Harry but before they can kill him, Voldemort possesses him and integrates his soul with Palpatine's giving Harry and Anakin a really big headache to deal with in the last two stories. The third is that Palpatine dies for good in this story and then the Yuzzhan Vong invade the galaxy and generally create havoc until Tamsin, Luke and Leia end up killing them, along with help from their magical friends from Earth, and the rest of the Rebel Alliance. **

**Please tell me which one you'd like to see most. I have ideas for all three directions but I don't know which one I like best. This is why this update is fairly late, I've been deliberating on the best direction to take and finally decided to leave it up to you guys. I should warn you, if you choose the third option, Harry and Anakin will die. Mind you they'd die in the other two as well, just not as soon.**

**May the Force be with you**

**Padawan Lynne**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen: Now What The Hell Do We Do?**

As the months passed, the Rebellion continued to attack the Empire whenever and wherever possible. They lost a few encounters, with almost entire groups of fighters being lost on occasion. This was counterbalanced by successes, where the Empire had more losses than the Rebellion. Through all this, Tamsin continued to send reports on the Emperor's plans whenever she could do so safely. Anakin and Harry were currently listening to one of her reports, while James and Severus watched in the background.

"… The Emperor is planning something to do with cloning, he sent me out to Kamino last month with a lot of credits. I don't exactly know what those plans are but I'll try and find out" she was saying.

Anakin nodded. "Good Tamsin. How are you coping, is everything OK?"

Tamsin started to nod, and then stopped, before slowly shaking her head. She looked miserable for a moment. "No it's not really. I'm being asked to do worse and worse things, it's like he's determined to turn me fully, with the intention of setting me against the two of you."

"If that happened, you'd more than likely win Tamsin" Harry told her. Tamsin looked at him in surprise. "Why?" she asked. Harry smiled somewhat sadly. "Because neither your master nor I could bring ourselves to kill you should it come to a fight between us. I know you've been asking Anakin for an all out duel against me, what I don't know is why you didn't ask me yourself?"

Tamsin sighed. "Because he told me you'd say no." She chuckled as Harry turned to glare at Anakin before turning back to her. "I wouldn't have said no Tamsin. I would have made sure you knew what you were getting into and then I would have dueled you. You'd have lost, that much Anakin was right about, but I wouldn't have said no."

Tamsin shrugged. "If it does come to an all out fight then perhaps you can duel me Dad, while Master Anakin takes on the Emperor." Harry looked thoughtful at this and then smiled. "That's a brilliant idea. In fact, I'm fairly sure that that's what the Council has in mind. Why else would they have sent you to do this job? You're supposed to be the bait for us to go to Palpatine and then kill him."

Tamsin nodded slowly, her mind turning over all the possibilities. "Perhaps. What about Voldemort, has he said anything to you about all this? He's been acting a bit odd when he's around here. Keeps an awfully close eye on Palpatine and how strong he is."

Harry frowned. "I don't know, he hasn't said anything to any of us but that is interesting news. Don't underestimate him, he might be dead but he's still a possible threat."

Now Tamsin looked startled. "Dad, he's been helping us, why would he be a threat?" She was perplexed when Harry scowled at her. "He's a threat because he was our enemy, and dead or not, he never does anything without at least two possible reasons, or more. I was surprised and suspicious when he began to help us, and with your news about him watching Palpatine, well, it makes me even more suspicious. Don't let your guard down, not for an instant."

Tamsin nodded solemnly. "I won't Dad. I have to go, pass on my information to the Council?" Harry nodded and she broke the connection. Harry and Anakin stared for a moment where her holographic form had been and then they turned as one and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" James asked. He was briefly startled at the twin fiery looks that were directed at him before Anakin snapped, "We're going to the Council to give them Tamsin's report, and then we're going to tell them exactly what we think of them sending her into this ultra-dangerous situation!"

"Didn't they already hear your views on the matter several months ago Harry?" Snape asked with a hint of amusement. Harry snorted. "No they didn't. Ginny got wind of what they had asked Tamsin to do and the resulting explosion was all her. They've been recovering ever since and we decided to let them recover before we yelled at them some more."

"Meaning Ginny verbally tore chunks out of them and they've been walking on eggshells round her ever since" Anakin translated with a laugh. Smirks from James and Severus met this announcement and James waved them off. "Go and tell the Council off then, you've been dying too, we all know it." He and Snape laughed wickedly as the two Chosen Ones walked quickly (running would have been undignified for two Jedi Masters), to the Council Chamber.

Several hours later the residents of the Jedi Temple were once again discussing a verbal explosion in the Council Chambers, and the Jedi Council members were not appearing for meals. Harry and Anakin though were still appearing, and both were wearing satisfied smiles that sent shivers down the spines of all the elder Knights and Masters.

Later that night, Mace showed up at Harry and Ginny's door. Harry let him in and Mace collapsed on the couch. "Did you have to yell at us Harry? Even Yoda didn't want to face you or Anakin at the moment, so they sent me."

"On the logic that I would be less likely to kill my former master" Harry stated. Mace nodded gloomily. Harry chuckled. "We don't like what happened Mace, but our issue with what happened isn't so much that she was sent to Palpatine. It's that we weren't told."

"Operational security Harry" Mace reminded him with an irritated look. Harry growled and then closed his eyes, reining in his emotions. "I understand the need for secrecy; however you all know that Anakin and I like to keep an eye on Palpatine thanks to those video/audio charms we installed in his office and quarters. Did you really think that we wouldn't find out that way?"

Now Mace looked faintly embarrassed. "We forgot about those actually. Can you at least forgive us for making a mistake in not telling you?"

Harry and Ginny exchanged a glance before Harry pulled the startled Jedi Councillor into a hug. "Of course. We just wanted to let off steam before we informed you that we'd forgiven you" he said with a smirk. Mace pulled back from his former apprentice, took one look at the gleam in his eyes and then groaned.

"All this worry and you'd already forgiven us" he grouched as he sat back down again. Harry smirked and sat down too. "Yes. We thought it was appropriate. Now that you know that we know, could we be let in on the grand plan?"

Mace sighed again. "Alright. Tamsin is supposed to nudge Palpatine into challenging Anakin to a duel. You and Anakin will go to Coruscant and engage him in a duel – which Anakin will win, while you and Tamsin make preparations to take temporary control of the Empire. Once Palpatine is dead, you will make the announcement, and our allies in the Rebel Alliance will move back to Coruscant and begin turning the Empire back into the Republic again."

"Minus the discrimination and self serving politicians that allowed Palptine to rise in the first place" Ginny said from her position snuggled up against Harry. Mace nodded distractedly. "Yes. All the former politicians that we have with us are not the self serving type, you know that Ginny."

Ginny nodded. "I do. We just have to make sure that those that follow them into the Senate are the same type and not like Palpatine."

"We can't interfere directly Ginny" Harry reminded her softly. She looked up at him and then huffed in annoyance. "I know, I know. Still, Bail and Mon Mothma will help with that anyway. Will Bail be the new Supreme Chancellor?"

Harry looked at Mace who shook his head. "No. He has given the honor to Mon Mothma, he just wants to be a Senator again. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go tell the Council that everything's alright again and they can stop walking on eggshells."

Harry waved him away with a grin. "You do that Master, and tell them that in future, we'd like to be informed if our Padawans are asked to do something as dangerous as what Tamsin's doing."

Harry leaned back on the couch with a sigh. "I hope she's alright" he commented. Ginny hugged him tightly. "She will be Harry. Anakin's trained her well, and she's our daughter. She's got the two most powerful Jedi in the entire Order for mentors and she's almost a Knight. Have faith Harry."

Harry just smiled and hugged Ginny back. "How did I get so lucky to have you for my wife" he murmured. He heard a chuckle before Ginny replied, "By being realistic enough to let me in and not shove me away again like you did when we were younger."

Harry just smiled in response, and the couple took some time to just enjoy each other's company, a rare moment of quiet time which was rarely available given the demands of the war. Both of them scowled when the comm. unit chimed, interrupting their peace and quiet.

"Yes" Harry answered it. Yoda's face filled the viewscreen. "Need you in the Council Chamber we do Master Potter."

"Now?" Harry yawned.

"Now" Yoda confirmed. Harry scowled at him but nodded. "I'll be there" he said, disconnecting the call and calling his robe to him with the Force. "I'll be back later Gin" he said as he headed out the door. Ginny just watched him go and sighed. Sometimes she hated the Council; she had been enjoying using Harry as a pillow.

Harry stepped into the Council Chamber and saw Anakin waiting for him. Standing beside his former Padawan, Harry eyed the Council with interest. "What have you called us here for?" he enquired. The Council members just looked at him blandly.

"We realize that you and your wife rarely get to spend time alone together but you do have a responsibility to this Order" Mace started. He was slightly intimidated by the scowl that Harry leveled at him.

"That is not the issue. I was being perfectly polite" Harry snapped. "And I know my responsibility to the Order, you don't have to lecture me like a Padawan."

"No I didn't. Sorry" Mace allowed. Harry relaxed somewhat and the Council did too. Everyone in the room was aware that both Harry and Anakin had been on edge since finding out about Tamsin's mission. Mace coughed and looked at Yoda.

"Accelerated our plan, Padawan Potter has" Yoda stated. Harry exchanged a look with Anakin, both frowning. "How so?" Anakin queried.

"She apparently talked to Palpatine after her report earlier and whatever she said to him has sparked him into action. He put out a challenge on the Holonet an hour ago. He wants to meet the two of you in battle within the week."

"He's being awfully confident isn't he?" Harry said doubtfully. Shrugs and blank looks greeted his question. "Maybe, and maybe not" Anakin answered thoughtfully. At Harry's surprised look he shrugged. "Think about it. He thinks he's turned Tamsin, the things she's supposedly been doing for him without the slightest shred of remorse has convinced him that she's Dark, and as such we won't take her back. Plus, he wants us out of the way as fast as possible. He also knows us, or at least he thinks he does. He knows that neither of us would fight Tamsin hard enough to possibly kill her if she attacked us – we both love her too much for that. So, he's expecting to send his Sith Apprentice up against his two greatest foes, knowing that neither of us would dare kill her. It's rather brilliant, from his point of view. While we're busy with her he could kill us at his leisure as it were."

Harry was grinning wolfishly now. "Except for two little things. One, he doesn't know that Tamsin is actually a spy, and two; I'm going to engage Tamsin and give her the duel she's been asking for, while you kill Palpatine. We could send his remains to a skin care research laboratory; he's got so many wrinkles they'd be occupied for decades finding the right one that decreases them all."

The Council members looked at Harry in amazement, before Mace snorted, and hurriedly tried to cover it up. His attempt was to no avail however as the hilarity spread quickly and soon most of the Council, as well as Anakin was laughing almost too hard to stand up, or in the Council's case, sit up.

"So we should answer his challenge then?" Anakin enquired, having got his amusement under control. Mace nodded. "Yes. He wants the duel to be held in his office, like the last one was. When can you be ready to leave?"

"Tomorrow" Harry replied after a quick mental conversation with Anakin. The Council nodded gravely. "May the Force be with you and good luck" Mace said as the two Chosen Ones bowed and walked out of the Council Chamber.

The next morning, Harry and Anakin met at the Marauder, preparing for what they hoped was the final battle between them and Palpatine. Anakin got on board and was warming up the ship while Harry checked the outside of his beloved old bucket of bolts.

"Harry wait up" came a shout from the entrance to the hangar bay. Harry turned with a frown. "What are you doing here?" he asked as his parents came running up. Lily hugged him. "We're going with you" she answered.

Harry frowned again. "Why? Not to be rude but most of the Order will be watching the fight from the Dining Hall, the intelligence officers are setting up a big screen there and they'll connect it to the one in the Intelligence Division."

"You don't understand Harry" James said once he'd recovered from the running he and Lily had just done. "We were sent back to you for a specific purpose. We didn't know precisely what it was; we were told that we'd know when it was time."

Harry started to have a bad feeling. "What do you mean?" he asked. James started to answer but was interrupted. "Talk on board!" Anakin yelled as the Marauder's engines started up. Harry, James and Lily got on board and buckled up, feeling the ship lift off the ground. Once they were in the atmosphere and then in hyperspace, Harry glared at his parents.

"What aren't you telling me?" he growled. James and Lily looked at each other. "Merlin said he could send us back but only because we were needed to prevent something happening that would greatly hamper the Light Side's chances of emerging from this war as the winners. He wouldn't tell us what it is, just that we would know when the time came."

Harry groaned. "Right. And I suppose the time is fast approaching and when it arrives I have to let you go" he said. His parents just looked sadly at him and nodded. Harry looked up when James laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Harry, son, we've been privileged to get to know you as the man you are, and we couldn't be prouder of you. Everyone has to die at some point, and hardly anyone gets a second chance like we have. Let us do what we have to do; you know that we'll always be with you anyway, even if only in spirit. And one day in the future we'll see each other again and get to spend eternity together. Just let us go when the time comes."

Harry nodded, struggling to resign himself to his parents' impending death, or at least that's what it sounded like to him. He felt himself being drawn into a hug, and relaxed into his mother's arms, feeling James wrapping his arms round both of them as well.

In the doorway leading to the cockpit, Anakin had heard the conversation and was staying respectfully silent. Looking at the scene he returned to the cockpit, knowing that Harry would be embarrassed to know that he'd witnessed it. When Harry finally did join him, not a word was said about it.

As they came out of hyperspace above Coruscant, both Harry and Anakin tensed. Anakin piloted the ship into the heart of the city, heading for the former Senate building. With the ship safely landed the two Jedi looked at each other.

"Good luck" Harry said. Anakin nodded, his face set. "You too. Try not to harm Tamsin too much eh" he said with a ghost of a grin. Harry smirked. "I won't. I'll just teach her that while she's a Senior Padawan, she's not a Knight yet. Just don't get yourself killed."

Anakin nodded. James and Lily came up behind them as Harry prepared to lower the boarding ramp. "Should I offer my good luck wishes as well?" Voldemort asked. Harry stilled, his hand on the button that would lower the ramp.

"Why do I get the feeling that you've been planning something for months and that Palpatine's impending demise is good for those plans?" he asked. Voldemort shrugged. "You know me Potter, I'm always planning. I'm just not in a position to carry any of them out. I'm dead" he said, frustrated. Harry smirked. "And with luck you'll stay that way" he retorted and lowered the ramp.

The first thing they saw was row upon row of stormtroopers. Harry sighed. "Oh look, an honor guard, here to escort us to their master's execution" he quipped as he walked down the ramp. Anakin chuckled before falling silent, his face falling into the same grim expression that Harry was wearing. James, Lily and Voldemort brought up the rear of the procession.

They walked up to Palpatine's office, the same one he'd used as Supreme Chancellor. As they stepped inside Palpatine turned to face them. Tamsin was by his side, her expression neutral.

"Ah you made it, and you brought supporters too" Palpatine said in a falsely charming tone.

"Are we supposed to be intimidated?" Anakin asked tersely. Palptine shrugged. "Not really, though you might be shocked by the identity of my apprentice here. Why don't you reveal yourself my dear" he said, turning slightly to Tamsin, who lowered her hood, her face expressionless. Green met green as Harry and Tamsin engaged in a staring match, which Harry won easily.

"What do you expect us to do, faint?" Harry enquired sharply. Palpatine shrugged again. "Again, not really. I do however; expect all of you to die!"

At the word die, Tamsin leapt forward, bringing her lightsaber out in a flash. Harry caught the downwards stroke of her blade cleanly and father and daughter were then engaged in a battle the like of which Tamsin at least, had never been in.

Anakin moved to engage Palpatine while James, Lily and Voldemort found a safe place to watch from the sidelines. Back on Yavin the entire Jedi Order with the exception of the youngest Initiates were packed into the dining hall, watching the battles with awe.

Tamsin struggled to parry her father's lightning fast attacks. She knew he was good but she was coming to realize that he'd been holding back in his previous duels with her. This was all out now and she determinedly stepped her own dueling up the required notches to match his speed.

"Enjoying yourself?" Harry asked with a grin – despite the seriousness of the occasion he was enjoying himself, finding out where Tamsin stood in an all out duel. He had to admit, she was pretty good.

"Of course" Tamsin replied rather breathlessly. "Ouch!" she said as Harry's lightsaber grazed her arm. They were both keeping the power levels on the blades down a couple of levels so they wouldn't relieve each other of any limbs by accident. Harry grinned ferally at her.

"Oh good. Then you won't mind if I stop the warm up" he said and just as Tamsin processed the words "warm up" Harry seemed to blur, and she found herself being forced back further and further. She found herself backed up against Palpatine's desk and then Harry was suddenly standing in front of her, his blade lightly pressed against her throat.

"I yield" she gasped. The duel had been brief, and Tamsin had learnt an important lesson. She would not be good enough to beat her father in an all out duel for several more years. Harry grinned at her. "Good. Go over there with your grandparents while I go help your master" he ordered and leapt over to where Anakin and Palpatine were engaged in a fierce duel of their own.

Palpatine was holding his own against Anakin, using all the Dark Side tricks he knew to hold off the determined Jedi Master that was currently trying to take his head off. He sensed a presence behind him and lashed out with a Force lightning attack. He felt a sizzling pain down his back a second later as Harry had caught the lightning on his blade and then slashed down the middle of his enemy's back.

Turning so he was facing both of his enemies, Palpatine held them off with Force lightning while he recovered his breath. Sith Master or not he was still an old man and both his opponents were younger than him by at least twenty years or more.

"Got up the courage to kill your daughter then" he hissed at Harry. Harry just glared at him coldly. "Actually, she was our spy here, the duel was a test of sorts, she wished to see where she stood against me in an all out duel. I was happy to oblige her" he replied before aiming a slash at Palpatine's legs while Anakin aimed for his midsection.

"What!" Palpatine exclaimed. Anakin smirked. "Did we surprise you Sidious? Oh dear, and here we were thinking you were omnipotent. How disappointing to find out you aren't."

Palpatine fumed and then lashed out with everything he had, forcing Harry away into a bookcase and Anakin into the desk. He started towards Anakin, but stumbled on the debris littering the floor. He went down hard, breaking his ankle if the sharp, wet sounding snap was any indication. Harry and Anakin walked over to him, and placed their blades at the defeated dictator's throat.

"Emperor Palpatine you are formally under arrest. However, seeing as you are too dangerous to be kept alive we hereby sentence to you to death, to be carried out immediately" Harry intoned. He and Anakin raised their blades, and brought them sweeping down.

A bright light shone in their eyes just as the two blades were about to cleave through Palpatine's neck. Both lightsabers dropped to the floor and the two Jedi staggered away from the blinding light. When their eyes recovered, Palpatine seemed to be having a fit. Voldemort was also nowhere in sight.

"What the hell?" Anakin asked. Harry however had gone deathly pale. "Anakin kill him now!" he commanded. Anakin picked up his lightsaber and prepared to strike but before he could do so a burst of Force energy shot out of Palpatine and struck him in the chest, sending him flying to land near the three spectators.

Harry was left alone as Palpatine's body rose from the floor, to stand unsteadily on one leg, supported by the desk. "Hello Harry Potter" he hissed. The voice wasn't Palpatine's however. It was Voldemort's.

"How the hell did you do that?" Harry questioned, grabbing his lightsaber and activating it. Voldemort, in Palpatine's body, waved a hand. "I waited until you two weakened him enough and then I took over. He's still here, and frightfully angry about my possession of him but for now he's weak enough that I can control him. But now, it's time for me to finish what I started all those years ago."

Aiming a hand at Harry, Voldemort growled, "_Avada Kedavra!"_

The deadly green light rushed at Harry and there was a chorus of "NOOOO!!!!" from all the Jedi watching on Yavin, as well as Anakin and Tamsin. Just before the light hit, two bodies got in between Harry and the spell.

Voldemort and Harry stared in shock as James and Lily fell to the ground, dead. Harry recovered first, glaring at the startled Dark Lord; he physically tackled him, and tried strangling him. Voldemort threw him off, and the two rose from the floor, Harry circling Voldemort cautiously while Voldemort aimed his hand at Harry, casting any and every spell he could think of to hold his nemesis at bay. Anakin and Tamsin (along with the Yavin spectators) watched this turn of events in horrified fascination, Anakin having being sufficiently weakened by the blast of energy that had hit him to not be of much help to Harry at the present moment.

"_Reducto!" _Harry hissed, hoping to blow Voldemort to pieces. Voldemort summoned the unfortunate desk into the path of the spell, staggering back dangerously close to the window. The spell hit the desk and destroyed it, throwing Harry to the ground and Voldemort backwards, through the window and out into the night.

Peering out of the window, Harry saw Voldemort land hard on a nearby platform, breaking a few more bones upon landing. Although now several stories up from his arch nemesis, Harry was chilled by the glare being sent his way. Standing up, he felt a hard impact against his ribs as Tamsin hugged him for all she was worth. Anakin came up beside him and Harry turned to him, seeing the shock and disbelief that they were both feeling mirrored in the younger Jedi's eyes, as well as the sense of failure, and grief.

It was Tamsin that voiced what everyone was thinking though. In a defeated sounding tone she asked, "Now what the hell do we do?"

**Author Note**

**Thank you to everyone who replied with an opinion on which direction to take the story. I have now decided on a direction but which one it is you'll have to figure out. Hopefully I can still surprise some of you. Oh and did you really think I'd kill Harry and Anakin off so soon? Honestly, they're my two favorite characters, they won't die for a while yet. It was amusing seeing everyone's reaction to the possibility though. This story will wrap up within the next two or so chapters, or maybe one, I haven't decided yet, and then it will be onto the fifth story in my six-story saga. I haven't worked out a title yet though.**

**May the Force be with you**

**Padawan Lynne**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen: Death of the Empire and A New Threat**

Harry stared down at Voldemort with an unreadable look in his eyes. Finally he sighed and turned to his two companions. "We can't leave here without killing them once and for all" he stated quietly, turning back to keep an eye on their enemy.

"But Dad, we're all tired, you and Master Anakin are injured and Voldemort is several stories below us. How the hell do you expect to kill him?" Tamsin demanded.

"She's right Harry. Neither of us is in any shape for another fight, not to mention that Voldemort is a spirit possessing Sidious' body. Why can't we leave, recuperate and come back?" Anakin asked.

Harry looked at his former Padawan and close friend. Anakin looked exhausted, he could barely stand up and there were a number of wounds that were oozing blood, albeit slowly. He sighed, knowing that he probably didn't look any better.

"We have to do something now because Voldemort knows where we live. Do you really want to be fighting to defend the Temple a few days from now against the army that Sidious and Voldemort can bring against us? Besides, who said anything about another fight? I'm not talking about fighting them again; I'm talking about a quick, clean execution."

"Isn't that against the Code Dad?" Tamsin asked, puzzled.

Harry smiled grimly at her. "Normally you'd be right but this is war and they're too dangerous to be left alive. If we don't kill them now they'll turn the galaxy firmly against us and the Rebellion will fail."

"But how are we going to get to them, much less kill them?" Anakin queried, having sat down on a nearby chair that had survived the massive fight.

"Simple" Harry replied before leaping out the window, transforming into Goldshadow in mid-leap. He flew down to Voldemort and picked him up in one paw before flying back up to the remains of Sidious' office. Dropping the Dark Lord on the floor he transformed back and promptly bound him with ropes and petrified him so he couldn't move.

"There. One Dark Lord, well, two really if you count Voldemort's spirit as one and Sidious as the other" he said with a smirk. Tamsin and Anakin were staring at him in shock.

"Your father's crazy" Anakin finally remarked.

"I know, but what does that make you? He trained you after all" Tamsin joked back. This earned her a gentle smack on the back of her head as they stared at Voldemort who hadn't acknowledged their presence beyond glaring at them as he was busy waging a mental war with Sidious.

"You imbecile! I had them defeated until you stepped in!" Sidious snarled at Voldemort. Voldemort merely laughed at him. "Oh please. They would have killed you had I not taken possession of your body. Now I get to remove Potter and then I'll leave so you can deal with Skywalker."

"In case you haven't noticed you miserable excuse for a Dark Lord, we're practically immobile! We've got several broken bones, a couple of nasty lightsaber wounds, pieces of my desk imbedded in our chest, a broken ankle and to top it all off, Potter has frozen us stiff! How do you plan to get us out of this mess?!" Sidious screamed.

"Keep your hair on, well, what hair you have left" Voldemort said before concentrating his magic. Sidious' body began to glow as the magic increased.

Tamsin noticed the glow and tugged at Anakin's sleeve.

"What is it Tamsin?" Anakin asked, distracted from his argument with Harry over how best to go about killing a spirit. He noticed the glowing and his eyes widened. "Uh, Harry, we have a problem" he stated, activating his lightsaber and holding it in a defensive position. Tamsin followed his lead, but Harry stood there looking unconcerned.

"Accio Voldemort's spirit" he said, pointing his wand at the Sith Lord on the floor. The glowing intensified as the petrification spell wore off, and Voldemort was drawn from Sidious' body, screaming with rage.

Harry glared at the spirit of his enemy before nodding to Anakin. "You deal with yours and I'll deal with mine" he said, concentrating all his magic and willpower on getting rid of Voldemort for good. Anakin grinned at him and then glared at Sidious who was looking up at him with a fearful expression on his face.

"Please don't kill me" the Sith whimpered.

"Did he just whimper?" Tamsin asked incredulously. Anakin nodded.

"Yeah he did. Rather pathetic really, isn't it. Still, I have a job to do."

He walked up to Sidious and with one clean stroke of his blade, the Sith Lord's head rolled out of the open space where the window had been.

"Done" he said, before collapsing onto the floor as his legs finally gave way beneath him. Tamsin tried to help him up but ended up falling down beside him as he was too heavy for her to physically lift if he wasn't helping.

"Don't worry about it, let's just rest and watch your Dad get rid of his enemy" Anakin said tiredly, putting an arm round Tamsin. She leaned into his shoulder with a sigh. "Do you think Dad will be OK? He did see my grandparents die right in front of him" she whispered.

Anakin frowned. "It will take some time but he'll be OK eventually. They knew they were going to die Tamsin, and they told him that before the battle. He knew, at least subconsciously, what might happen, and that will help a bit. It won't completely ease the pain but it will help. Finally eradicating Voldemort will also help too."

"Yeah. Go Dad" Tamsin mumbled, closing her eyes. Anakin chuckled softly as she fell asleep against him, worn out by the entire ordeal. He was feeling rather tired himself but he kept his eyes open, more out of a need to make sure that Tamsin was kept safe than any real desire to watch the battle being played out in front of him.

Harry and Voldemort had been circling each other for the past few minutes, each totally focused on the other. Harry had peripherally registered Anakin killing Sidious and then collapsing but he knew that his former apprentice was fine, just a bit tired and sore. The same went for Tamsin so Harry was free to keep his full attention on his enemy.

"Had enough yet Potter? I killed your parents, and when I'm done with you I'll kill your family as well. You'll die knowing that you failed to protect the ones that mean most to you" Voldemort sneered.

Harry yawned. "Oh please. Sidious is dead, and I'm not the scared child I was when I faced you last time. I'm just letting you blow off steam before I kill you. There's nothing you can do to anyone anymore" he said with a smirk.

"_Avada Kedavra_!" Voldemort hissed. The spell fizzled and died. He looked shocked, while Harry just smirked at him. "Didn't you know that you need a body to cast spells? You didn't? How sad. Well, I'm afraid that this is the end of our chat, it's time for you to go back where you came from."

Harry gathered all his magic and a healthy helping of the Force as well, focused it all into one bright beam of light and encircled Voldemort with it. The Dark Lord looked shocked as light continued to wrap around him, binding him tightly. Once he was encased from head to toe in the light, it constricted, sucking in all of the Dark Lord's spirit and completely eradicating it once and for all.

Harry collapsed on the floor as Voldemort disappeared, the light fading as it finished its work. None of the three Jedi could hear the cheering and screaming on Yavin, but Harry smiled as he saw two spirits appear in front of him.

"Well done son" James said quietly. Lily nodded, her eyes shining. Harry just smiled up at them. "It's over. They're both gone. Now can I sleep?"

Lily chuckled. "Yes. Sleep Harry. Then go back to Yavin and begin to rebuild the galaxy."

Harry nodded and closed his eyes. Seconds later he'd fallen into a deep sleep, never feeling his body being levitated onto the _Marauder_ courtesy of Tamsin, and never noticing when Anakin sent the ship into hyperspace on the first leg of the journey home.

"Dad? Dad wake up" a voice said, intruding on his pleasant dream of being in one of Yavin's natural hot springs with Ginny with neither of them wearing anything except a pair of swimsuits.

"Huh. Where are we?" he mumbled, opening his eyes. Tamsin's face filled his field of view and he yawned. She pulled back, wrinkling her nose.

"We're on the final approach to Yavin Dad, you need to wake up and prepare to face our welcoming committee. And use some breath freshener" she answered, leaving his cabin to give him some privacy.

Harry yawned again and got up, stumbling into the onboard fresher, emerging cleaner and more alert. Dressing in a clean uniform that was always kept on board he went up to the cockpit.

"Morning Harry. Sleep well?" Anakin asked, keeping one eye on the planet that was on the viewscreen. Harry snorted. "Like a log. Did you and Tamsin get any sleep on the way back while I was imitating a dead tree?"

Anakin chuckled. "We slept while the ship was in hyperspace. You must have used up a fair bit of energy, even I only slept for three days. Tamsin was asleep for two but you've been asleep for a week."

Harry just shrugged. "Par for the course when eradicating Dark Lords. Have you seen Voldie anywhere?"

"No. Whatever you did it pretty much got rid of him for good" Tamsin commented from her position in the copilot's seat. Harry raised an eyebrow. "Well that's good. We can now relax and look forward to rebuilding the Republic."

As the _Marauder_ landed, Harry and Anakin looked at each other. "Ready to go face the crowd?" Harry asked with a smirk. Anakin shook his head. "Not really but they are just our friends and family. How hard could it be?"

They rose and Harry lowered the boarding ramp. Taking a deep breath, they walked out to find Mace, Ginny, Snape, Draco, McGonagall, Obi-Wan, Luke, Padme, Yoda and Leia waiting for them. They smiled as Ginny and Padme promptly tried to hug the life out of them, but their eyes swept the rest of the clearing. Seeing no-one else, Harry looked at Mace enquiringly.

"We felt that you shouldn't be overwhelmed with congratulations when you first arrived" Mace explained. Harry grinned at him. "Much appreciated Mace, thank you. I suppose the party's over already?"

"Hell no. We were just waiting till you got back to start it" Han said from the doorway leading into the Temple. Leia grinned at him and then led him over to the two men that meant the most to her in the entire galaxy.

"Is there something we should know?" Anakin asked, looking at their joined hands. Leia and Han both looked at him calmly. "Yes. I asked her to marry me and she accepted" Han answered after a brief moment of silence.

"Without consulting either Anakin or I?" Harry interrupted with a frown. Leia turned to glare at him, a glare that was met with a cool stare in return. She dropped her gaze as Harry continued, "Despite her age, Mr Solo, she is not yet a Jedi Knight and therefore any marriage proposals should have been run past both her father and myself. Until we have said yes, no marriage will take place."

"Even if I said I was pregnant" Leia asked challengingly. Harry and Anakin stared at her and then at each other. "She's yours" they said simultaneously before shaking their heads and turning to glare at her.

"Is this a ploy to get us to say yes or are you really pregnant?" Anakin asked in a soft, deadly tone. Leia swallowed, she could count the number of times her father had been truly angry with her on one hand. "A ploy. We haven't done anything" she said quickly. Anakin looked relieved.

"Good. Well, lead us to the victory celebration. We can discuss any upcoming nuptial plans later" he said heading for the door. Harry followed him, and their friends and family crowded round as an honor guard.

"CONGRATULATIONS!!!!" yelled several hundred Jedi, Rebel Alliance members and Earth representatives. The two Chosen Ones stopped abruptly, almost deafened by the noise. "Er, thanks" they replied rather lamely, allowing themselves to be hugged and congratulated as they moved through the crowd. An indeterminable amount of time later they found themselves being called on to make a speech.

"You go first" Anakin hissed.

"No you go. You're the one that got rid of the real menace to the galaxy, I just got rid of a parasite" Harry hissed back. The whispering continued back and forth until Ginny stood up.

"Both of you are the heroes of the hour now for Merlin's sake, START TALKING!"

"Right" Anakin said looking rather embarrassed. "Um, most of you here know that I was the Chosen One of the prophecy, what you don't know is that without the help of a lot of people, I wouldn't be standing here today and the galaxy would be a much worse place. Uh, the list of people is really too long to say here so just know that I am grateful to all of you for helping me achieve my destiny. Perhaps the person that I owe the most thanks to, however, is standing right beside me. Harry saw in me someone that was worth training as a Jedi, and never wavered in his support of me, even during that horrible time when Sidious possessed me for a brief period. He was able to help me through that and a week ago now; we got rid of Sidious forever. I know that I was the one to strike the killing blow but without his help, and my Padawan's help too, he would still be alive. Thank you."

"Now you Harry!" Obi-Wan called from the crowd.

Harry coughed. "Okay. Well, thank you to Anakin for getting rid of that pestilential Dark Lord known as Sirius – oops, I meant Sidious" he said, getting a chuckle out of the audience. "What Anakin said about me being his greatest support person, well, that may be true but I was backed up by a lot of other people as well. He had more support than I think he knew, but support means very little if you're not willing to actually step up and do the job. We owe him a big round of applause, and a huge amount of gratitude for stepping up and doing the job. Well done Anakin. Also, you lot might consider us the heroes, but everyone here today has worked to the best of their abilities to bring down the Empire so really, we're all heroes. You guys tackled the body of the Empire while we just went and cut off the head."

The applause almost brought the roof down, and both Harry and Anakin were very embarrassed when it ended. He and Harry stepped down off the impromptu stage and made their way to the refreshment area.

"Nice speech" Snape said from Harry's left side as they sat down. Harry turned to face him. "Thanks" he replied, accepting a simultaneous hug from Padme, Leia and Tamsin.

"Thank you for getting rid of Voldemort for good too" the ex-spy said seriously, which caused Harry to look at him fully. "He was nothing more than a parasite really; it was easy compared to what Anakin had to do. He's the real hero, not me. That's the way I want it to stay too" he said firmly, taking a sip of the punch.

"Whether you want it or not, all the people here consider both of you as heroes. Accept it Harry, you'll make yourself miserable if you don't" McGonagall said with a smile, coming up and hugging him briefly.

Startled by this show of affection, Harry nonetheless hugged her back. "Um, OK Minerva. Sit down, have a drink" he said, offering a glass to her.

"What will you do now?" she said, having refreshed her fluid levels. Harry just smiled. "Relax, enjoy life, and begin rebuilding the Republic. Padme has already said that she'll help with setting up the Senate again but after that she's retiring and coming to live here with Anakin. We will also slowly begin to re-establish the Jedi Order on Coruscant, although we'll keep the Temple here as well, as a sort of outpost area."

"Mhmm. What about Tamsin and Leia. Oh and Luke as well. Will they be knighted soon?" McGonagall asked.

Harry shrugged. "Don't say anything to them but yes, in a couple of weeks, we'll knight all three of them. They deserve it."

"And Leia's comment about her and Han?" Snape asked with a smirk.

Harry snorted. "I almost had a heart attack when she said she was pregnant. No, we'll allow her to marry Han, he might be a former smuggler but he's a good man and he obviously loves her."

"You'll just make them sweat a bit first" Draco remarked, having come up and heard the tail end of the conversation.

"Yeah something like that" Harry laughed.

After finishing his drink, he got up and circulated through the crowd, seeing relief and hope in everyone's eyes. Escaping out a side door he spent a few moments looking up at the stars.

"What are you thinking?" Ginny asked from behind him. Harry turned and smiled, pulling her into a hug.

"How lucky we are to still be here, as well as the work ahead to rebuild. The Emperor may be dead but I know a few Imperial admirals who won't come in quietly. We may have a smaller fight on our hands to get them to concede."

"I don't think so" Padme said, having followed Ginny outside. Harry raised an inquiring eyebrow at her. She looked up at the stars for a few moments as well before saying, "That battle was broadcast all over the Holonet. All the Imperials that are still alive have capitulated, none of them wanting to face being hunted down by Jedi that may or may not include either you or Anakin. Once the party's over we'll rebuild but it won't be as hard as you think."

Harry smiled at her. "Thank you Padme, that makes me feel a lot happier" he admitted. Padme smiled back. "Good. I should go rescue Anakin, he's been cornered by some of the younger Padawans and needs help I think."

Harry and Ginny chuckled before going inside as well. The party lasted until the dawn of the next day. If an Imperial had landed on the planet, they would have been able to walk around unmolested as Jedi and Rebel Alliance soldiers alike were sprawled everywhere, fast asleep. Harry had fallen asleep in the Initiate dormitory common area as Goldshadow and many Initiates were cuddled up to him. Tamsin, in her panther form, was curled up underneath his left wing, and Leia was cuddled up under his right wing. None of the senior Jedi who woke up early and witnessed this sight had the heart to move any of them and they were left undisturbed.

**Six months later**

Jedi Knights Leia Solo and Tamsin Potter were flying their X-Wings on a routine scouting mission around the Outer Rim to check that there were no rogue Imperials that hadn't yet come in and surrendered. They were just about to head home to Coruscant when Tamsin spotted something on her scope.

"Leia, I've got something strange here. Looks to be near the Unknown Regions" she said over her comm. unit. Leia frowned and looked up to see if she could physically spot the unknown entity that her 'sister' had picked up.

"What is that thing?" she breathed, halting her forward momentum. Tamsin halted beside her and both Jedi stared at the massive ship-like thing that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"Are you getting any life readings?" Leia asked. Tamsin nodded.

"Yes. But there's something wrong. The computer's picking up loads of life signals but I can't sense whatever they are through the Force. It's like there are a whole load of living beings on that ship that have no Force presence."

"Whatever it is, and whatever they are, we should report it to the Council. Lets head back" Leia decided. The pair swung their fighters round and jumped into hyperspace, heading back to Coruscant.

"You're sure about this?" Anakin asked as they gave their report to the Council. He had joined Harry on the Council permanently when Yoda and Mace had both died from natural causes. Their deaths were mourned by all the Jedi and the remaining Council members had voted for Harry and Anakin to take their places. It was an appointment that they had only reluctantly taken, although they had settled into it and were even enjoying it now.

"Yes we're sure Master Skywalker" Tamsin said, almost rolling her eyes. Two things stopped her from doing so – one she was a Jedi Knight and it wasn't polite to roll her eyes at a Jedi Councilor even if said Councilor was her former master, and two, her father, who was looking at her with a thoughtful frown from his own Council seat, would have taken her to one of the training rooms and killed her in a 'training' duel.

"This is worrisome news" Adi Gallia said slowly. The other Council members nodded. "Yes it is. We need to find out who these new invaders are and why they've come here" Siri Tachi said firmly.

"Invaders? They might be trying to open up negotiations to join us" Obi-Wan objected. Siri gave him a scathing look. "Since Knights Solo and Potter spotted them, we've received reports that these new... whatever they are...have attacked several Outer Rim settlements. Their technology is unlike any we've encountered before."

"Master Potter, Master Skywalker. What do you think of this situation?" Adi asked. Harry and Anakin looked at each other, having a private mental conversation. Finally Harry answered, "We're not sure. What we do agree on however, is that Master Tachi is right. This is a likely a scouting force, preparing the way for the main invasion."

As the Jedi Council digested this alarming news Anakin said in a morose tone, "I fear that we have just recovered from one war only to be thrust headfirst into another – and this one we may not be able to win. "

**Author Note**

**Hello my faithful readers. A quick note just to let you know that I'm taking a small break from Walking A New Path while I let my brain come up with suitable ideas for the last two stories in the series. I am also working on other stories, including an original one which I'm hoping to get published one day although that may not happen. So if it takes a while to get the fifth story of WANP up, please understand that it is likely to be because I'm working on one of my other four stories that are currently underway, or my original one. I will not abandon this series.**

**May the Force be with you **

**Padawan Lynne**


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